Empathetic Masquerade
by mewmaster93
Summary: The long-awaited sequel to Scarlet Masquerade finds the tsukumogami Hata no Kokoro adjusting to the events of daily Gensokyo life after her involvement in two incidents. Between dealing with the likes of Tenshi, the Buddhists and Taoists, AND the Scarlet Mansion crew, how can the young Youkai avoid being overwhelmed? The second part of the Masquerade trilogy begins now!
1. Chapter 1

_A few months ago, there was an incident in Gensokyo involving the return of the rule-breaking Celestial Tenshi and the cold-hearted manipulation of newcomer Hata no Kokoro. Emotions ran haywire across all of Gensokyo. Humans were more aggressive than normal, the Scarlet Mistress was literally dying of laughter, and the maiden of the Moriya shrine turned against her own goddesses and tried to obtain dominance. _

_The leaders of the Taoist and Buddhist factions tried to intervene in this affair alongside the local Hakurei shrine maiden and human magician, but they too failed to match Tenshi's strength! But after all the betrayal that was revealed before her, the emotionless menreiki struck back against her manipulator, taking her down and restoring peace to Gensokyo once more. Tenshi was sent hurtling back to the heavens with her tail between her legs, and no one has heard from her since! _

_Local Hakurei shrine maiden took credit for the success of this resolved incident, but when asked to comment on her incredible defeat she assaulted the interviewer with one of her patented Yin-Yang orbs! …The talented interviewer in question is fine, thanks for asking. _

_In other news, renowned Youkai criminal Seija Kijin is still on the run…_

"Tee-hee…" An alluring, mature chuckle slips from the lips of a female Youkai whose age could be described as immeasurable despite her physical appearance being that of a middle-aged human woman. In her right hand was a piece of newspaper titled "Scarlet Masquerade Resolved by it's Stoic Instigator?!", and in her left was a curved wine glass filled with a succulent red liquid. The woman, clothed in a deep purple dress and a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon, sat atop a curved, red gap in the middle of a partially cloudy sky with a light smile on her face.

As the woman finishes reading the newspaper, she casually opens another gap to the right of herself and puts the article inside of it, keeping her hand inside of there for a few more seconds so she can draw out a pink lace parasol that she unfurls and holds over her shoulder to block the sun from reaching her body. As one gap closes, another one opens to the left of her, and after bringing the glass of wine up to her face and taking a sip the woman gently places the cup back where it belongs via the newly opened gap.

She then rests her freed up hand on the edge of her gap, a gentle breeze blowing her dress to the right as she glances down upon the mythical land of Gensokyo. From how high up she was, she could see many familiar places. The Bamboo Forest, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the Hakurei Shrine and the Human Village were some of the most familiar places to her, and she glanced at them with a fond smile.

A few seconds later, another presence floats beside this mysterious Youkai. It was a nine-tailed human-like fox wearing a blue and light purple dress with blue print on the front and a two-tailed hat adorned with many amulets. The fox folded her arms inside of her sleeves and glanced briefly at the other Youaki with her yellow eyes, showing a hint of bewilderment as to what she was doing. "Lady Yukari…Are you reminiscing again?" The fox chose to inquire in a subdued tone of voice.

"Ran, I didn't expect to see you back so soon. I would assume you have news for me?" Yukari ignored the question asked of her by her shikigami servant and brought up one of her own without moving her head to look at the fox. Ran flinched for a moment in surprise, but then delicately explained while closing her eyelids "My efforts to find the tanuki have so far been unsuccessful. I have checked 73.45% of possible hiding spots in Gensokyo, but will resume my search momentarily."

"The tanuki is certainly not going to reveal herself so easily, but it is important that I speak to her. If you cannot find her on your own, Ran, then I suspect that she'll be forced out of hiding soon enough…" Yukari spoke cryptically of things to come, as Ran has come to expect, and after nodding her head the fox asked "Lady Yukari, it has been some time since the menreiki lost control of her emotions and threatened Gensokyo because of it. Is it really imperative to find the tanuki and address her about her chosen method of helping the menreiki out?"

Yukari then turned her head to look at her shikigami, folded the parasol up, and with one hand she swung the parasol in an arc and smacked the fox hard against her forehead. The pain causes Ran to yelp for a moment, but Yukari does not go any further than that single attack before she spreads the parasol back out and looks back down at Gensokyo. "I love this world we live in, Ran. I have loved it for thousands of years, and I wish to love it until my life is snuffed out." Yukari finally answers the fox's earlier question in an affectionate manner towards the land.

"That is why it imperative that everything goes according to plan for the foreseeable future, Ran. The menreiki is crucial for the protection of our world. The Celestial has seen why first-hand, but the full extent of her powers is known only by you and I. The tanuki may see us as enemies, but she is a wise soul and may come to temporarily align her goals with ours if we play our cards right." Yukari then goes on to answer the other question, but not because Ran mentioned it.

Ran nodded her head even though her forehead was throbbing in pain, and said in a delicate tone of voice "Then I shall depart. I will report to you again in a couple of days." Ran then flew off to handle her designated affairs, and once she was out of earshot Yukari's expression became a little more nostalgic before she commented "So here we are again…I wonder how things will turn out for us this time, Hata no Kokoro?"

**Touhou Project Masquerade Arc Story 2: Empathetic Masquerade**

**Chapter 1: The Menreiki, Hata no Kokoro**

In the celestial land of Bhavaagra, things have been rather peaceful for the past few months. The Celestials have been able to relax and meditate in peace, reaping the bounty of heaven's fruits and soaking in the light of their planet's sun. What's that, you say? You curious to know what happened to the mischievous child of heaven, Tenshi Hinawani? I assure you, she has not died or been sealed away, something like that wouldn't happen in Gensokyo these days.

Rather, Tenshi has become distracted by someone interesting that she met during the last incident she caused. And that certain someone was the expressive poker-faced Youkai, Hata no Kokoro. This strange meeting between Celestial and Youkai began with Tenshi manipulating Kokoro into doing terrible deeds to the denizens of Gensokyo. So why is it that Kokoro would bother with the Celestial after all that? Well if you're asking that question, then you need to go back and read the first story. It's never wise to start with the sequel first.

On this particular day, the blue-haired Celestial strolled through Bhavaagra, using her orange multi-functional blade the Hisou no Tsurugi as a cane that she grasps at the top with both hands. She was wearing her usual white blouse, blue dress and apron, and if that wasn't enough she could be easily recognized by the peach-topped black hat on her head. Tenshi had a smile on her face as she whistled her way through the heavenly lands, and she did this out of happiness instead of mischievous intent.

After moving for quite a bit of time, she stopped in place before the entrance of Bhavaagra, which could be identified by part of the Youkai Mountains poking through the clouds from down below. She expected someone to arrive from the surface of Gensokyo, and prior narration should make it obvious who she was expecting. The clouds rustled slightly, signifying that someone was just about to finish climbing up to the very top.

As Tenshi finished whistling and dispelled her Hisou no Tsurugi, her eyes glistened with anticipation and she kneeled down to reach for the hand of the person coming up. But when the hands poke through and grabs hold of Tenshi's own, the gentle rattle of a chain and the strength of the person's grip turns the Celestial's expression swiftly to that of annoyance. Reluctantly, Tenshi pulls up on the person despite the pain being inflicted on her delicate arm, and up comes the tiny night parade oni herself, Suika Ibuki!

Suika lets go of Tenshi's grip and launches herself into the air, the Celestial being thrown onto her buttocks from recoil as the oni lands on the ground with an unnecessary amount of force, which quakes the area around her as she nonchalantly raises her arms up and exclaims "Ten seconds up the mountain! Almost a new record! This is a cause for celebration!" The oni quickly falls onto the left side of her body, a drunken blush appearing on her face as she pulls out a chained gourd and places it up beside her mouth to let sake flow between her lips.

Needless to say, Suika wasn't one for neatness, and the sake quickly spilled onto both her tattered sleeveless shirt and into the clouds underneath her. After getting back onto her feet, Tenshi turns around and fiercely glares down at the oni, her foot impatiently tapping down for a few seconds before she briefly bent down and flicked one of Suika's horns to try and grab her attention. Even deep into sake as she was, Suika chose to stop and address the matter of Tenshi's impatience.

Lowering her gourd in front of her chest, Suika turns her head to glance up at Tenshi before saying to her in a youthful stupor "Tenshi! I didn't notice you there for a moment! Want a drink?" The oni raises her gourd up in offering, but Tenshi folds her arms together and says in a firm tone "You keep spilling all of your sake like that and soon Gensokyo will be experiencing a sake rain. So if you're going to drink, can't you do it on a stone pedestal or something?"

"Hmmm, a sake rain…That doesn't sound half bad. Reimu would consider that almost as much of a blessing as a donation!" Suika rubs her bottom of her chin in contemplation of that idea, and then proceeds to start drinking again without a care in the world. Tenshi cracks a ferocious grin and proceeds to say "You're really testing my patience, oni."

Suika pulls the gourd from her lips and lifts it towards Tenshi, saying to her in a merry tone of voice "Well if you're feeling tense, then just have a drink to melt your worries away. Besides, I thought you'd be acting a little nicer by now after everything that happened recently." The Celestial raises the right part of her lips along with twitching her eye, pointing out to Suika promptly "The day I'm nicer to you will be a terrible day for me."

"…So I guess that's a no on the sake?" Suika purposely ignores Tenshi's response and then shrugs her shoulders, going back to what she was doing before, causing the Celestial to sigh and comment as she relaxes her expression "I just don't know why you are still here. Is there really that much for you to do in Bhavaagra, or are you just sticking around to keep rubbing things in my face?"

Suika pulls the gourd from her mouth with a loud "Pop!" and then wipes her lips before stating "Tenshi, you should know me better than that after the last few years I've been around. I love to have a good time, and here I am able to do so! Besides, it'd be a waste of good property if I just vacated it." Tenshi then creaks her eyelids open slightly to glance to the side and murmur "Even though it's not your property to begin with…Can't believe I haven't been caught on that still."

"Didja say something?" Suika asked, and Tenshi immediately took advantage of the oni's stupor to say "Nothing at all, just go back to enjoying your sake." "Will do!" Suika exclaims, and lifts her gourd up high to dump tons of sake into her mouth. The Celestial then groans and decides to ignore the oni for the time being, even if Suika wouldn't ever give her the same treatment. She then turned around and continued to wait for Kokoro to show up.

It took another five minutes of patient waiting before another hand reaches up into the clouds. Tenshi smiled slightly and then helped the person climb into Bhavaagra. This time she got the right person, the lavender haired, blue plaid blouse wearing young Youkai known as Hata no Kokoro. Beside the girl's blank expression was a mask representing a young woman, which portrays the emotion of joy for the girl.

Kokoro stood atop the clouds and looked up at Tenshi's smiling face, which only further increased the joy she was feeling, even if her expression naturally did not change to show that. "Tenshi, you appear to be doing well." Kokoro says in an observant tone of voice, and Tenshi pats the girl warmly on the head before ruffling her hair slightly and saying "And you appear to be doing the same. It's been a couple weeks since I last saw ya, so why don't we go somewhere else and catch up?"

Kokoro tilts her head, a mask looking like an open-mouthed monkey appearing beside her as she asks "What's wrong with talking here?" Tenshi then flings her right thumb over her shoulder to point out Suika's presence in the area. It didn't take long for Kokoro's mask to change back to the previous one as she comments "I see…This must be what Mamizou referred to as a third wheel…"

"Ummm, I guess so? Well, whatever you just said, it basically equated to 'Suika's annoying, let's get going', right?" Tenshi didn't recognize the phrase Kokoro mentioned, but the way the Youkai nodded her head made it clear that she at least understood what it meant. "Alright then, I got a great idea for a conversation spot. Follow me!" The Celestial make a sharp turn to the right and then starts to walk forward, and Kokoro picks herself off the ground and floats off just moments later. Though she does glance back at Suika for a brief moment.

The oni stops drinking from her gourd in order to murmur to herself "Can't believe that all it took for Tenshi to stop causing incidents was to find her a friend…Though I got to say that it was probably the most unorthodox friendship forming experience I'll ever see." Suika then glances down at the clouds, getting a rather interesting idea in her head as she uses her powers to open a hole below her so she could plummet back into Gensokyo while laying on her side and drinking sake.

Back with Tenshi and Kokoro, the Celestial glanced over her right shoulder as Kokoro followed her close behind. It just seemed like yesterday that the two had formed a sisterly bond, what with how easily the memories of times since flow into Tenshi's mind. She specifically remembers introducing Kokoro to her parents, who actually let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that Kokoro was a friend instead of a tool for a prank…It was a good thing for Tenshi that her parents didn't recognize the Fuku no Kami mask of laughter beside Kokoro's face after they made that comment.

The best part of this bond between Tenshi and Kokoro was that the Celestial has not felt boredom at all since the last incident she caused. This lack of boredom came from listening to what Kokoro had to say about the events in her life. It was interesting to see how a Youkai, especially a newborn like the menreiki, perceived Gensokyo and it's inhabitants. Plus, Tenshi wanted to help Kokoro learn to open up more with her own emotions instead of relying on the masks that make up her being, but all things considered that wasn't a goal unique to the Celestial.

Tenshi and Kokoro then arrive at a thicket of peach trees, where the Celestial turns around and quickly plops onto her rear beneath the cracked shade of two of them. Crossing her legs and putting on a smile, Tenshi says "Come on Kokoro, sit down, I'll get you a bite to eat. You're probably tired after climbing the Youkai Mountain." She gestures in front of her to give Kokoro a suggestion on where to sit down, and the menreiki kneels down in front of Tenshi.

The Celestial then summons forth her Hisou no Tsurugi and glances towards the upper right tree, extending her blade out to gently poke into one of the many peaches on the branches. She then lowers her arm and decreases the length of the blade to put the fruit in front of Kokoro's face. The Youkai flinches for a moment, but then grabs the fruit from the blade and moves it towards her mouth.

Kokoro takes a tiny bite from the peach and slowly chews it, her cheeks puffing up slightly as her mask changes to that of the Hyottoko. "You enjoying the peach?" Tenshi asks as she leans one hand against her chin. Kokoro nods her head, and then rests the peach atop her face-holed skirt before commenting "That was the first time I have ever eaten a peach. I don't think there are any peach trees in Gensokyo."

"Well, there's more than enough of them up here…Much to my chagrin…So if you want to eat anymore, just let me know." Tenshi says, taking a moment to mutter out her annoyance before swiftly slipping back into her previous conversation. "So anyways, how have you been holding up lately? Are your Noh plays still going strong in the Human Village?" Tenshi asked to get things rolling, leading to Kokoro's mask changing to that of an old woman to represent melancholy as she mentions "Tragically, it seems the humans are no longer interested in watching the Hopeless Masquerade play. So right now I've been forced to take a break to try and figure out another play to perform."

Tenshi's eyes widen for a moment, but then her expression changes to subtle disappointment as she says "Awww, that sucks. But hey, at least I got to see a couple of them before you had to stop for now." The Celestial tries to put a bright spin on things, and that seemed to work in Kokoro's favor as her mask changes to the Hyottoko and she nods her head, saying to her friend "That's right. I do recall seeing you twice."

"Hehehe, I'd have come a couple more times, but then that crazy shrine maiden started showing up to watch you and well…" Tenshi lingers on the end of her sentence with a nervous chuckle, followed by Kokoro stating "You didn't want to cause any trouble. I'm proud of you for admitting that, Tenshi." The Celestial quickly takes two of her fingers and playfully pokes Kokoro on the forehead, saying to her in a humored tone "Hey now, I'm supposed to be the older one here."

The Fuku no Kami mask appears to show that Kokoro was humored by Tenshi's response, and after a momentary pause Tenshi gestures forth with her right hand and suggests "Say, your first play was based on an incident, right? Why don't you make another play based on the recent incident with that inchling?" "…Inchling?" The term was unfamiliar to Kokoro, who tilted her head with the monkey mask appearing beside her. Tenshi levels one hand right in front of her knee and explains "An inchling is about this tall, but they look a lot like a human otherwise. Apparently a single inchling caused a lot of trouble with this hammer that grants wishes, but now she's living in that crazy shrine maiden's home."

"I see." Kokoro stated plainly, but then tilted her head to the other side and asked "But wait, how do you know all this?" Tenshi jokingly replied with "I'm more surprised you don't know, don't you read the tengu newspaper? That's how I learned about the incident." Kokoro shook her head and stated "I do not have any money on me, I cannot get a newspaper…Plus I heard the tengu who writes the paper tended to spread misinformation."

"Well that's not completely off, but yeah, if you need any money for a paper of your own don't be afraid to ask." Tenshi offers, but this is then followed up by Kokoro asking "But wait, why would a tengu deliver a newspaper up here?" The Celestial nonchalantly explains to the Youkai with her eyelids shut "Well, you may not know this, but the tengu who wrote the newspaper is responsible for me finding you all those months ago. So in exchange for not telling everyone that she was technically an accomplice, she would start delivering the paper up here for me. Not like a lot of people needed an excuse to hate her more, from what I understand."

Kokoro's mask changes to that of the Hannya to show slight anger, and in a tone meant to berate she says "Tenshi…" Tenshi opens her eyes and quickly states "Hey hey now! I'm not causing any trouble, it's just a little bribe, that's all." Kokoro slaps one hand against her forehead and lets out a sigh, and then proceeds to think to herself _"Well I guess it could be worse…" _

The menreiki then decides to leave things be regarding Tenshi and her bribery and move on to another subject. "So Tenshi, what else have you been up to?" Kokoro asked, her mask reverting to that of the old woman in the process. The Celestial shrugs and says with a neutral expression on her face "Can't say much has happened in the last couple weeks, but that's to be expected up here. At least knowing you'll be coming around helps to alleviate the boredom. I'm just glad Iku agreed to be the messenger between us."

"You know Tenshi, you could also just come down to Gensokyo and visit me." Kokoro suggested in an honest tone of voice, and the Celestial nervously chuckled before admitting "I considered that, but it'd be rather awkward to go to the Human Village after that incident. If you got any other suggestions, I'd be happy to try and work something out." Kokoro taps one finger against her cheek and thinks things through for a few moments, and then answers Tenshi with "How about the Myouren Temple?"

Tenshi's eyes widen and she glances at Kokoro in disbelief while stating sarcastically "Yes Kokoro, that wouldn't be at all awkward for all parties." "Tenshi, I'm sure mom would forgive you for everything you did if you just gave her a very, very…very, very sincere apology." Kokoro tries to reassure Tenshi that everything would be ok with an apology, but the way she hammers it in ends up having the opposite effect.

The Celestial continues to widen her eyes while exclaiming in surprise "MOM? You're starting to call her MOM now?! I know her and the Taoist decided to 'adopt' you together, but you really shouldn't be calling her a mother considering she didn't…You know?" Tenshi makes a rather detailed popping noise afterwards, but Kokoro just tilts her head and summons the appropriate mask for her confusion. Tenshi then sighs and says "Never mind, you're too young for that."

After Tenshi lifts her head back up, Kokoro starts to say "If I'm considered to be her adopted daughter, and you and I consider each other to be sisters, then wouldn't technically she be your mom as well?" The Fuku no Kami mask appears beside her face, while Tenshi blushes slightly and exclaims "Not in this lifetime, Kokoro! Besides, I already have a mother of my own, you met her before."

Kokoro continues to innocently joke around by stating "I guess you would be the rebellious daughter then." Tenshi appeared to not be humored by this point, and with a stoic face the menreiki said to her "I was just joking around, Tenshi." The Celestial sighs and says "Kokoro, I appreciate you trying to learn how to tell jokes, but you do realize that it's hard to figure that out sometimes, right?"

The menreiki was about to gesture towards her mask, but then finds that it has already changed to that of the old woman, meaning her point would be made moot if she decided to say anything. Kokoro then sighs herself, and there was a bit of awkwardness between the two before Tenshi decided to ask "Anyways, on the subject of your 'mother', have you been seeing her at all in the last couple of weeks?"

Kokoro nodded her head, and then went on to explain "I will be going to see her later today as well. It's nice to go there and speak with all of the other Youkai leaving in the temple, and mommy always treats me fair. Plus, she's a great cook." "A great cook, eh? You'll have to sneak me up a meal from her sometime, it'd be a nice change of pace from the endless supply of peaches." Tenshi suggest with a slightly mischievous chuckle, and Kokoro went on to say "Or you could-"

"I'll take the offer into consideration, alright Kokoro?" Tenshi stopped the menreiki midway through when she realized what she was going to say, and Kokoro's mask changed to the Ko-omote as she nodded her head in an appreciative manner and stated "Thank you, Tenshi." The Celestial then tilted her head while once more leaning one hand underneath her chin for support, pondering things for a few moments before she outright said "Alright, enough about that pure as pure can be 'mother' of yours, weren't you also starting to go to that mansion where that Librarian almost killed me? _Can't believe I'd ever say that…" _

"It's been going fine. Come to think about it, I also have a session with them later on, and I plan to go there after I see mom. My two visits don't tend to cross on the same day often, but it's not hard to manage it." Kokoro explains, showing maturity in her commitments as she spoke of them. "So between me, your 'mother' and the vampire mansion, you got a busy day ahead of you." Tenshi says in an understanding tone of voice.

"Mmm-hmm…So my apologies if our visit has to be short today, Tenshi." Kokoro says while bowing her head forward. "Hey, that's fine with me, just so long as you promise to come back here again soon." Tenshi says while standing back onto her feet, feeling a bit of soreness in her legs due to how long she had been sitting for without moving them. Kokoro rises up moments later and floats above the ground and then says "Don't worry, I'll come back pretty soon."

Tenshi ruffles Kokoro's hair with a smile on her face, and the menreiki then turns around and prepares to head off. Before she goes though, the Celestial looks down and sees the bitten peach lying atop the clouds. Swiftly summoning forth her sword, Tenshi pokes the peach and then says "Heads up Kokoro!" Once Kokoro turns around, Tenshi flicks the peach through the air so the Youkai can catch it in her hand gently. Then after dispelling her sword the Celestial waved Kokoro off without saying another word.

Kokoro nods her head in an appreciate manner and then leaves to go back to the entrance of Bhavaagra while innocently chewing on the peach. Back in the peach tree garden, Tenshi rubs the bottom of her chin and then ponders to herself "Hmmm…Going down to Gensokyo to see Kokoro, eh? I'll have to keep that in mind."

Back with the menreiki, she ends up at the tip of the Youkai Mountain she climbed up to reach Bhavaagra, by that point leaving only the pit from her peach in her fingers. She tosses is nonchalantly over her shoulder and then drops down the hole remaining from Suika's earlier stunt. As the Ko-omote mask appears beside her, Kokoro begins her flight through the sun drenched land of Gensokyo, heading to the Myouren Temple to meet up with her "mother" for the day…

_Next Time: The Not So Loyal Buddhists!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Followers of Buddhism?**

After departing from the heavenly land of Bhavaagra, Kokoro flew through Gensokyo towards the Myouren Temple. The monkey-faced mask was beside her body, indicating that she felt a bit nervous going to this place. As it would take her a while to reach her destination, Kokoro chose to think back to a time a few months back when her feelings of awkwardness regarding the Myouren Temple began to form.

_It was a few weeks after the "Scarlet Masquerade" incident listed in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Kokoro was doing a performance at night for the humans in the village, putting all of her heart into the act. The humans seemed to really enjoy her performance tonight, as they gave the menreiki a standing ovation by the time she bowed her head to end her act for the night. But unknown to the young Youkai, she was being watched by a couple particular folk._

_When the swathe of humans native to the village depart to their homes for the night, only these two particular folk remained in plain view a few feet away from the stage. Kokoro noticed them rather quickly, and her mask turned to that of the monkey-faced one almost instantly. There was only two people that could make her feel this nervous…Ok enough with this suspense, lets just describe them in the next paragraph._

_The first person at the front was a woman of above-average height with a thin figure and platinum blonde hair styled with a couple of ears/horns at the top. She wore purple headgear that resembled the outside world's "headphones" as Kokoro had been told, and her clothes consisted of a sleeveless purple dress under a white vest and a warm looking violet scarf wrapped around her neck. Beside her hip was a hilt carrying her legendary sword, and grasped in her right hand was a wooden shaku._

_The second person was a couple inches taller than the first, and her much more buxom chest and curved figure projects a more womanly vibe than the somewhat masculine person beside her. Her long, wavy, natural hair had a gradient consisting of purple at the top and light brown at the bottom, the second part matching the color of her eyes perfectly. She wears a fitting black and white dress with long strips of black fabric going across the middle and white fabric across the arms. She has a long cape on her back, a large straw hat atop her head, and a green bead necklace around her neck._

"_You appear to be doing well, Kokoro." The first person said with a warm smile on her face, while the second person seemed to share the menreiki Youkai's 'expression' of awkwardness as she lifted her hat up slightly to look at Kokoro. "Miko, Byakuren…Hi." Kokoro says, slowly lifting her right hand up to wave at the two figures while her mask remained the same. The Youkai looked towards Byakuren and expected a response, but the two shared nothing but silence for a few seconds._

_It was understandable as to why they didn't directly speak to one another, especially after what happened in the last incident. The two hadn't seen or spoken to each other since then, either. Miko glanced over her shoulder and whispered out "Relax, Byakuren, we rehearsed this together. Just let me break the ice first." Miko then turned towards Kokoro and said to her "Your display tonight was wonderful. You truly have a talented for plays, Kokoro."_

_Kokoro heard the compliment, but didn't respond to it as she glanced down slightly and asked "…Miko, are you not mad at me?" Tactful as always, Miko smiled and said to the Youkai "I have no idea what you're talking about. Why should I be mad at you?" "Because of what I did just a few weeks ago. Didn't I almost betray you both?" Kokoro replies, asking another question for Miko to ponder for a few seconds._

_As Miko taps her shaku against her chin she says "Well, from my point of view, it's impossible to be 'betrayed' if the person in question doesn't feel as though they've suffered a betrayal. You do not need to worry about my views on what happened during that incident, Kokoro. What matters now is what me and Byakuren have come to see you for." Miko then lowers her arms and glances at Byakuren, nudging her head forward to pass the torch off to her. Kokoro feels a little less nervous, but the monkey-faced mask still stays beside her as she asks of Byakuren "Miss Byakuren, what about you?" Her inquiry saw her taking on a more formal tone, despite the stoic nature of her voice._

_Byakuren flinched in surprise at this question, and after a momentary pause she took her hat off and held it against her chest so she can give Kokoro her full attention with a firm yet warm stare. "Kokoro, you made a mistake. An innocent, honest mistake. It would go against my very teachings to not forgive you." "…And if you didn't have your teachings to back up your decision, would you still forgive me?" Kokoro gave a rather potent question, but she needed to know the answer to this in order to truly continue the conversation._

_Byakuren nodded her head and said to her "Yes, I still would. Because as a human, I know what it's like to make mistakes, especially when you are young. But that is why me and Miko are here. We want to help you learn more about this world, about your emotions, and about yourself…" The honest glimmer in her eyes helped Kokoro believe what she was saying, and this was followed by Miko placing her shaku between her belt and hip and extending her right hand out to say "Hata no Kokoro, it is with earnest that Byakuren and I wish to adopt you as our child."_

"…_Adopt?" Kokoro tilted her head in confusion, and Miko's eyebrows perked up as she mentioned "Ah, you must not have heard of the term. Simply put, it's the act of bringing a parentless child under your own care." With a humored chuckle, Miko closed her eyelids and said with a smile "In this case, Byakuren will act as your mother, and I shall be your father." _

"_You'll be my parents? …I don't know what to say to that." Kokoro mentioned while raising her head to glance at the night sky, her own eyelids closing as she started contemplating the offer presented to her. Miko draws her hand back, saying to Kokoro moments later "You do not need to take us up on our offer right away. If you still feel nervous, then you're welcome to sort things out on your own…"_

_Kokoro then glances down at the two and shakes her head, proceeding to mention "That's not it. There's just a couple things I wish to ask…First, what happened to Mamizou? I thought she was the one who was going to help me out?" The implication of the Youkai's comment was that she hadn't seen the tanuki since the incident. Byakuren stepped up to answer this one after putting her hat back on, saying to Kokoro honestly "Mamizou felt that she failed to help you out after what happened with that rogue Celestial, so we chose to take things up in her place."_

"…_I really miss Mamizou." It was at this point that Kokoro's mask finally changed to that of the old woman as she glances away for a moment. Miko mentions casually "That tanuki is most certainly still around in Gensokyo. If you wish to see her again, then either Byakuren or I can find her for you." Miko then glances to the right, as though she sensed the tanuki's presence at that moment with her particular ability. _

"_Anything else you have to ask, Kokoro?" Byakuren inquired, leading to Kokoro glancing back at her in order to say "Yes. How will you make this work? Does everyone at your temples know you are going to do this? Because I remember seeing how there was some bad blood between some of your followers…" Miko and Byakuren then shared a quick glance, with Miko then looking back to explain to Kokoro "We will make it all work out. But for the first few months, it would be best if you visited each of us one at a time."_

It was at that point where Kokoro's memories of the past come to an end, mostly because she had arrived at her destination. Flying above the Myouren Temple, Kokoro glanced across the landscape for a brief moment, noticing the well-tended garden and the graveyard in particular before she descended towards the entrance of the temple grounds, which was a gap in the middle of a stone wall.

Kokoro lands on the ground before the gap, her sandals tapping down on the stone panels as her mask switches to that of the young woman. "I hope everyone is doing-" "HEY, KOKORO! YOU'VE ARRIVED!" An enthusiastic proclamation from a particular resident of the temple makes the Youkai flinch and her mask switches to represent surprise in the form of the thunder god Raiden. Kokoro then turns around and finishes her sentence with a quiet voice "…well…"

Before Kokoro has even passed through the gate, a person with tear-colored hair, dog-like fluffy ears, and a short-sleeved pale pink shirt that stretched to her kneecaps ran towards the Youkai with a bamboo broom grasped in both of her hands. The dog-eared being was just as tall as Kokoro, and as their eyes met and the merry glimmer can be seen in the dog-eared Youkai she said to the menreiki "How are you doing today?! Did you have a safe trip?!"

The Youkai knew nothing about volume control when it came to displaying her enthusiasm, and as her innocent smile crossed her face the dog-eared Youkai's small, fluffy tail could be seen wagging against the back of her clothes. Kokoro waits for her heart to start beating and her mask to return to the previous one before she says to the Youkai "I am doing well. My heart's beating a little bit, but otherwise I'm fine…What about you, Kyouko?"

Kyouko closes her eyelids and opens her mouth to chuckle innocently, answering Kokoro's question with "I'm doing well! I've gotten a good night's sleep, and I have swept off the temple grounds to start off the day!" The yamabiko made even something normally as dull as cleaning sound exciting. This was then followed up by another voice speaking out from a short distance away "You say that Kyouko, but I passed by a couple dirt spots on the way over here."

Kyouko flinches in surprise and then turns her head to the right, with Kokoro turning in that direction a moment later to see a couple more people approaching. The first person was a young lady with cyan shoulder-length hair, a blue and white dress complete with a nun's headdress and a black and gold kesa wrapped around her blouse and skirt. Floating behind her was a large pink-red cloud with the face of an old man and two hands created from his cloudy body.

The lady folded her arms together and glanced at Kyouko, and the yamabiko nervously chuckled with an awkward expression on her face before explaining to the person "I-I didn't miss them Ichirin, but a broom isn't strong enough to wipe them out. I was planning to ask Murasa for help with that, but then I heard Kokoro arrive." The way Kyouko respectfully spoke to Ichirin showed that the yamabiko thought of the girl as her senior, and there was an equal amount of respect from Ichirin's side as she lowered her arms, smiled, and said to Kyouko "That's fine, I just had to be sure."

Chuckling for a moment, Ichirin then mentioned "But of course, you are once again right on top of things, Kyouko." Kyouko turns her body all the way and stamps her broomstick against the ground, puffing out her chest as she proclaims with all of her enthusiasm "I always try my best at everything!" As Kokoro observes the conversation between the two Myouren Temple residents, her masks changes to that of the Hyottoko, something that is noticed from the corner of Ichirin's eyes.

Ichirin then turns to look at Kokoro with a small smile on her face, and as she gestures out gently with her right hand she says "It's a pleasure to see you again, Kokoro. Sorry I wasn't here the last time, but I was doing something for Lady Byakuren that day." Kokoro nods her head in an understanding manner, and Ichirin then proceeds to ask upon making an astute observation "I see you're still using the mask of cheerfulness. Have you not been able to smile on your own whenever you have fun?"

Kokoro shakes her head, following up with a response of "None of my masks have broken since that one incident. I still yearn to smile like you and Kyouko do whenever you have fun, but it seems that event was a one-time thing…" As the menreiki's mask changes to that of the old woman, Ichirin's expression flashes to that of guilt for a moment before she says in an apologetic tone "I did not wish to depress you, Kokoro."

Kyouko then scuttles to get in front of Kokoro's line of sight, folding her broom behind her body before she looks at the menreiki and says "Yeah! If the event happened once, then it's sure to happen again! And if not, then we can just take your Hyottoko mask and crack it apart with a blunt object to free you from it's grasp!" The yamabiko's suggestion takes Ichirin right off-guard, her eyes widening as she quickly reprimands Kyouko with a firm sounding declaration of her name followed by telling her as she glances over her shoulder awkwardly "We can't just force Kokoro to feel emotions. For all we know that'll destroy her very being. She has to learn to experience emotions on her own."

"I-I was just joking around about destroying her mask by force." Kyouko's nervous reaction showed that she had rarely seen Ichirin get upset before, and taught her to never try a joke like that in her presence again. The yamabiko turns to the menreiki and says to her "But seriously, if we could find any way to allow you to feel emotions, then we'd definitely let you know." Kokoro's mask changes back to the Hyttoko, and she says to Kyouko and Ichirin in a tone of stoic appreciation "Thank you both for your concerns, but I will be ok."

After this, the gentle giant Unzan takes his right hand down and pats Kokoro atop the head, letting out an elderly guffaw as he pulls his limb back. "Heheh, I guess Unzan's got faith in you, Kokoro." Ichirin say as she glances back at the living cloud, who blushed slightly at the acknowledgement from his protector. Ichirin then looked back at Kokoro and said to her "But enough about your masks. I suppose you wish to see Lady Byakuren now?"

Kokoro commented as she glanced at Ichirin "I am in no rush. I have plenty of time before I have to go elsewhere, and I still want to talk with you two." Ichirin nodded her head, but felt the need to mention as she threw a brief glance at Kyouko "I myself would be delighted to continue conversing. But Kyouko here still needs to finish cleaning for today." Kyouko's ears then perk up as she turns to glance at Ichirin, reminding her in a somewhat saddened tone "But I still have to find Murasa. Can't I just stay and talk for a little while longer?"

"Well, I guess considering the commotion going on out here, Murasa is sure to pass on by assuming she's around. So yeah, go ahead and stick around." Ichirin says in a lenient tone of voice, and Kyouko's ears perk up happily before she opens her mouth and proclaims "THANK YOU ICHIRIN!" A sharp ringing goes through Kokoro's ears due to being in a close proximity to the yamabiko, and Ichirin cracks a smile after a momentary flinch.

Kyouko then turns towards Kokoro and says to her enthusiastically "So Kokoro! I don't know if you've spoken to any Youkai in the forest, but have you ever heard of a band called Choujuu Gigaku?" Kokoro tilts her head in a puzzled manner and says "Choujuu Gigaku? …Isn't that the band of two delinquent Youkai who 'rock the funk' and cause tons of commotion for everyone at night? At least, that's what mommy told me…" Kyouko's ears immediately droop down atop her hair, her expression going stiff in disbelief as she awkwardly mentions "Y-Yeah…T-T-That's what they do…"

"What about them?" Kokoro asked, oblivious to what Kyouko's response was implying. "W-Well…One of those two 'delinquents'…Is me." Kyouko states as she slowly moves her hands back and forth on the grip of her broomstick and chuckles. Kokoro pauses for a moment to contemplate this bit of news, and then widens her eyes as the monkey mask appears beside her and she murmurs out "O-Oh…"

"You're still a part of that two-man band, Kyouko? Even after Lady Byakuren disapproved of that and punished your friend?" Ichirin commented in a somewhat worried tone of voice. Kyouko then turns towards her and insists with all of her heart "There's nothing bad about our band! We express what's in our hearts through our music, and the Youkai of the forest love it!" The mention of the heart piques Kokoro's interest, and the menreiki lifts her head up while murmuring to herself "Expressing matters of the heart…"

"Kyouko. When does this 'Choujuu Gigaku' band of yours play?" Kokoro asks, showing intrigue despite her stoic nature, and Kyouko turns to her a moment later while her ears perk back up and she enthusiastically asks "Are you interested in hearing us play, Kokoro?" Kokoro nods her head in response, and with an agape mouth and a victorious cheer Kyouko says to her "Ok then! Meet me in the forest late tonight! I'll be so excited to see you there!"

"…I'm still neutral to what you're doing, Kyouko, but that just means I won't say anything to Lady Byakuren when you go tonight." Ichirin comments after letting out a momentarily sigh. Before Kyouko can face Ichirin and thank her for doing that, another voice calls to them from afar "Kyouko, what have I told you about your band?" Kyouko freezes up at that moment in fright, and turns to see Byakuren approaching the three of them.

Once Byakuren stopped a few feet away from the three, she glances at Kyouko is a somewhat disapproving manner while mentioning to her "We'll talk about this later." The priest then glanced at Kokoro and smiled while the yamabiko slouched out of sadness. "Kokoro, I'm glad you arrived on time. I was looking forward to seeing you all week." Byakuren then extends her right hand out and smiles with closed eyelids, and Kokoro looked at her with the mask showing her bewilderment placed beside her face.

Something was off about Byakuren today, and Kokoro could almost put her finger on just why that is. Ichirin and Kyouko didn't seem to notice that something was wrong, which immediately clued the menreiki in on who "Byakuren's" really was. Kokoro extended her hand out to shake "Byakuren's" own, and after a few seconds the menreiki says "You aren't fooling me by disguising your identity, Nue."

"Byakuren" opens her eyelids, stating in a different and more mischievous tone of voice "How did you figure me out?" "Byakuren's" body begins to wave around, and as she rises into the air Kyouko and Ichirin both glance at her and watch as she transforms back into her true form. As a small UFO appears in mid-air, an odd looking girl with short black hair, dark red eyes, three red metallic and three blue arrow-shaped wings lays atop the UFO with an innocent smile on her face.

As she gently kicks her black thigh-high stockings behind her, the girl rests her arms below her chin, revealing a snake wrapped around the right one that was completely motionless. As the girl lays on the UFO, Kyouko glares up at her with a furious pout and states "Nue! That wasn't funny! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Nue glances at the yamabiko and says to her "Well that's why I didn't take it any further."

"The only reason you didn't take it any further is because Kokoro figure you out." Ichirin commented, feeling the slightest bit frustrated that she fell for Nue's little trick due to her loyalty to Byakuren. "Hey, I saw any opportunity for a prank and I took it. You should try and do the same sometime Ichirin, be a little more whimsical." As Nue waves a pointer finger around and spoke honestly, Ichirin sighs and says in a firm tone of voice "Whimsy leads to mistakes, mistakes lead to impurity, and impurity leads to burning in the flames of purgatory."

"…I'm not asking you to go commit a crime or something, just crack some jokes, do some pranks. You can be pretty uptight sometimes, just loosen up and have some fun." Nue states with a smile on her face, and Ichirin's expression stiffens before she folds her arms against her chest and comments "I can assure you, I am just as capable of having fun as anyone else. But it'd be a peaceful type of fun, one that doesn't involve giving my friends heart attacks."

"…If you say so." Nue shrugs her shoulders after remarking on Ichirin's forced reassurance, and then she turns back to Kokoro and says with a curious expression on her face "So how did you figure out it was me? …Did Mamizou tell you any of my trade secrets while you were with her?" Kokoro shakes her head, explaining in a rather detailed manner "Your ability allows you to make objects unidentifiable. Your emotional spectrum, on the other hand, continues to exist within your new body and soul, thus making it possible for me to identify you."

"Really now? I guess it makes sense for you of all people to pull something like that off." Nue says, her expression changing to one of delighted intrigue before Kyouko commented towards her "Well now that we've gotten past that…Nue, have you seen either Miss Byakuren or Murasa around today?" Nue scratches the back of her head to think about this question "Murasa and I were planning to meet up today, but I haven't seen her at all. As for Miss Byakuren, I think she might be meditating in the temple."

"You're also looking for Murasa?" Kyouko questioned, and Nue nodded her head and then explained "Every now and then, Murasa and I head to one of the lakes in Gensokyo. There, I use my ability to give a single object the identity of a large ship so Murasa can sink it, that way she can satisfy her desire to do so without harming anyone." "Huh, what a practical use of your powers." Ichirin comments in a surprised tone of voice.

"Anyways, I'll go fetch Byakuren for Kokoro. Just wait right here." Nue says, and after sitting herself upright on her UFO she turns it around and flies towards the Myouren Temple. Kokoro then tilted her head and commented to her company "I can see why Nue and Miss Mamizou are friends. They may both have their mischievous sides, but they look out for those who need their assistance."

"Nue wasn't always like that. A long time ago, she was more wicked with her pranks. In fact, she used to bother us quite often during Lady Byakuren's original voyages throughout Gensokyo. But I guess time has tamed her." Ichirin mentions while reminiscing a bit about past ventures. Kokoro then takes this information and starts comparing Nue to Tenshi, which made her feel a bit hopeful that as her "younger sister" she'd one day be able to get the Celestial to become as nice as Nue and Mamizou.

"…Maybe someday, Tenshi." Kokoro accidentally murmured out the name of the Celestial, which Kyouko caught wind of thanks to her incredible hearing. "Hmm? What are you bringing up that delinquent for, Kokoro?" For a brief moment after Kyouko points this out in a puzzled tone, Ichirin's expression became that of concern. Kokoro noticed this and shook her head gently as her masks quickly changed from showing surprise to instead expressing confusion. She then murmured out "I didn't say anything."

It was a lie, obviously, but one Kokoro thought would work in her favor considering the situation. No one save for Suika and Iku Nagae, the Celestials' messenger, knew that Tenshi and Kokoro had been meeting up with each other since the incident. Byakuren and Miko would definitely not approve of this decision if they were to find out, so it was for the best that Kokoro kept her lips shut about the Celestial anymore around other people.

Ichirin and Kyouko swap quick glances at each other and decide not to say anything else about this for the moment, especially once they turn and see both Nue and the real Byakuren heading down the staircase towards them. Byakuren was wearing some slightly thicker clothing than usual, since the seasons were in the middle of transitioning between winter and spring of the new year, but the usual colors and design remained intact.

Once Byakuren was at the bottom of the stairs, Kokoro floated forward to end up a few feet away from her. She poked her head up innocently as the Ko-omote mask appears beside her face, and Byakuren in turn smiled at Kokoro and said to her "Kokoro, you are looking well today. Have you been keeping up with your nutrition?" Kokoro shook her head, admitting to Byakuren in an honest tone of voice "I have recently run out of money to purchase food in the human village, mother."

As Nue floats back to where Ichirin and Kyouko are, she chuckles slightly because of how adorable it was to hear Byakuren be called a "mother" by the young Youkai. Byakuren kneeled down because of the height difference between her and Kokoro and rubbed the top of the Youkai's head while looking her earnestly in the eyes and saying to her "Well then I'll have to do something about that, won't I?" As Byakuren pulls her hand back and stands back upright, Kokoro nodded her head in agreement of the idea.

"Come on, let us go have some tea, and you can tell mom what you've been up to lately." Byakuren suggested in a warm tone of voice as she clenched one fist close to her chest. Kokoro and Byakuren then turned for the temple and went up the stairs to head inside, while the on-looking trio of Nue, Kyouko and Ichirin have rather merry looks on their faces. "I'm surprised by how involved Lady Byakuren has gotten with being a mother for Kokoro." Ichirin comments after a moment of silence between them all.

"Really? Byakuren always seemed perfect for the mother role to me, she's just never really had a chance to go out and find a man to produce a child of her own." Nue says rather nonchalantly before the ignorant Kyouko, who tilts her head and comments "Huh? Why would she need a man to produce a child?" Before an explanation of the human biology had to come to the surface, Ichirin quickly but awkwardly stated "I-It doesn't matter anyways. Lady Byakuren is way too dedicated to her mission to concern herself with such matters."

"Hehe, I suppose that's true…Speaking of men though, you guys already know that Kokoro's 'father' is that troublesome Taoist leader, right?" Nue switched subjects to help avoid the matter of child creation, leading to a rather slouching pose from Kyouko as she grasped her broomstick tightly while Ichirin let out a rather bothered sigh and said "Yeah, we learned about that a couple months ago. It was rather surprising to discover, that's for certain…"

"That Taoist won't try anything though, not while we're guarding the place…Assuming she has an ulterior motive. I don't know, Mamizou assured me that the Taoist Leader wasn't up to anything, but didn't tell me more besides that." Nue stated, and in turn Kyouko murmured out "That Taoist frightens me…" But the subject of the Taoist Leader is dropped when all of a sudden the three notice someone approaching them from the right.

It was a teenage girl with short black hair and teal eyes wearing a standard white sailor's outfit complete with a skirt. Hauled over her left shoulder is an anchor just as big as she was tall, and in her right hand was a wooden ladle filled with an infinite supply of water. "What are all of you doing out here?" The girl asks in a curious but pleasant tone of voice. "Oh there you are Murasa. I thought you weren't going to show up today for a moment." Nue comments before she proceeds to answer her question as she lays down atop her UFO once more "We were just talking with Kokoro. She went inside to have tea with Byakuren just a moment ago."

Murasa's expression becomes one of slight disappointment as she comments "Aw seriously? I really got to not wash the anchor on the days that Kokoro happens to show up. I think I've interacted with her less than the rest of you, and that's really saying something when Shou is off taking care of business 80% of the time." But though this bits of news bothered Murasa, she brushed it off with a shrug of her shoulders before looking at Nue and saying "So hey, if you're still up for a trip to the lake today, I'm ready whenever."

"I figured as much, but first I believe Kyouko needed your help with something." Nue said, and Kyouko took this moment to ask "Murasa, can you help me clean the rest of the temple grounds? There's a couple spots of dirt and your water would be perfect to wash it all away!" Murasa smiles and taps her ladle against the top of her shoulder to splash a bit of water out of it while replying with "I'm always glad to help a friend out."

Murasa and Kyouko thus head off to finish cleaning the temple grounds, with Nue choosing to wait around with Ichirin for the Youkai sailor to return. Meanwhile, inside the Myouren Temple, Kokoro and Byakuren have made it to the porch in the very back. The porch overlooks a small glistening pond that had a couple white lotuses laid at the surface, and surrounded the pond were a series of other flowers personally picked by Byakuren herself in accordance with Buddhist traditions.

Byakuren and Kokoro both kneeled down on their own square pillows in front of a cleanly laid mat, where a steaming pot filled with tea laid in the center, with two small glass cups resting beside it. After Byakuren poured the tea and the two of them lifted their cups in both hands, the priestess closed her eyelids and quietly said "First things first, let us recite a sutra for the day. Today's sutra shall be 'Anubuddha Sutta'."

The two recite the sutra quietly, with Kokoro not failing to miss a single word throughout the whole thing. The sutra filled Kokoro with a sense of relaxation, and the Hyottoko mask appears beside her to match what her heart felt. Byakuren and Kokoro then took a single sip of their tea as a light breeze passed them by. "You have memorized that sutra splendidly, Kokoro." Byakuren praises Kokoro for her job well-done, a warm smile forming on her face as she opens her eyes.

"Thank you, mommy. I try to memorize these sutras in my spare time, and they help me sleep peacefully at night." Kokoro says, sipping her tea a little more, and Byakuren lays one hand on her right cheek and proudly states "Most kids would spend their nights playing around or reading bedtime stories, but you are dedicating yourself to sutras." Kokoro could understand why Byakuren felt proud of her. Out of everyone who resided at the Myouren Temple, only Kyouko and Ichirin really seemed dedicated to reciting sutras and learning how to be Buddhists. The rest of the group were more dedicated to Byakuren, if anything.

As Kokoro thought of the group though, she looked at Byakuren and asked her "I noticed that Shou and Nazrin aren't around today. Is something up with them?" Byakuren lowered her tea cup and looked at the menreiki, telling her honestly "Shou and Nazrin are out taking care of something for me. Though honestly, you really shouldn't be worried about Nazrin showing up. I've tried to offer her to live here, but she is loyal to Shou, not me. I will not force her to come if she doesn't want to."

"Then I will stop thinking about them for now." Kokoro said stoically before she takes another sip of her tea. Her and Byakuren then spent the next few minutes discussing the things that they both had been up to recently. Tenshi was naturally not brought up by either side, and because of that the conversation went swimmingly. Byakuren stated "I'm sorry to hear that you are no longer doing Noh plays, but just know that if you need an idea for another one then as your mother I will be more than happy to help."

Her earnest smile showed that her word could be trusted, and Kokoro said in a thankful tone "Of course mom. I can trust both you and dad." "Well, I'm happy to hear that as well." Another familiar voice speaks out to the menreiki, and both Byakuren and Kokoro turn towards the door to the left of them and see the Taoist Leader Miko standing casually there with her usual attire on, though she wore longer sleeves to help with the cold.

"Miko? I'm surprised to see you here…Inside of the temple…Unannounced." Byakuren commented with an increasing amount of surprise in her voice, and after putting her shaku in front of her chest Miko chuckled and responded calmly with "I would have given you a heads-up, Byakuren, but my arrival today was not something I expected either." Looking at the menreiki, Miko then proceeded to say with a smile on her face "Today is your lucky day Kokoro. You'll get to spend some time with mom, dad, and your favorite tanuki in the entire world."

_Next Time: One Very Bizarre Family_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Mother and Father?**

"…Mamizou is here?" Kokoro asks, the mask beside her changing to that of the Ko-omote as she looks at Miko standing near the doorway. The Taoist nods her head, holding her shaku out of the side before she takes a couple steps into the room the menreiki and Byakuren were kneeling down in. Once Miko stood beside Kokoro, she held her hand out and asked with a subtle smile on her face "May I help you to your feet, Kokoro?"

"It's ok dad, I can get up on my own." Kokoro stated, and as Miko withdraws her hand she notices the tea cups on the mat and immediately says in an apologetic tone of voice as she looks ay Byakuren "My mistake, Hijiri. I can't believe that I didn't notice that you two were in the middle of tea time. If you want to continue, I will be more than willing to stand aside until you are done." Byakuren glances at Miko and stated in an unconcerned tone of voice "We were pretty much done with our tea for now anyways. I wish I had another cup for you, but I don't think it would've mattered as the tea has gone cold."

"Hahaha, you underestimate my preparedness for such an occasion, Hijiri." Miko laughs before her formal comment, to which Kokoro says to her "But didn't you just say that you didn't expect to come here today?" Miko flinches for a moment, and then glances to the right and says with a smile on her face "True as that may be Kokoro, I had plenty of time to take care of some things before I made the short journey over here, so I decided today that I would bring Futo along with me. If anyone can warm a pot of tea back to normal temperature, it would be her."

Byakuren's expression immediately becomes one of dread as she imagines for a moment the one called Futo successfully heating the pot…While standing in the middle of the burning Myouren Temple. After letting out a chilled shudder the Buddhist leader places one hand against her chin with her eyelids shut and says "If you need the tea warmed, I will do it myself. Forgive me if I cannot trust your aide with fire, Miko."

Miko glances at the woman and says to while gesturing to the side with her shaku "I just do not wish to burden you. If I stick by Futo's side, I can assure you that your temple will not sustain any harm." The honesty in the Taoist prince's voice made it hard for Byakuren to reply as she lays her hands against the top of her legs and comments "You won't be inconveniencing me, Miko. But I definitely think I should tell Ichirin to put away the Buddha statues."

"That sounds like a good idea, at the very least. Anyways, while you are warming the tea back up, do you mind if I take our adopted daughter to see her old friend?" Miko asks, leading to Kokoro turning towards the Buddhist and asking with the most innocent choice of words "Please mommy? Can I leave the table and go with daddy?" Byakuren's heart melts a bit at the sound of Kokoro saying such words, and with one hand laid against her chest she brightly smiles and says "You don't have to ask my permission, you can go if you want to, Kokoro."

With an appreciative nod of her head, Kokoro says "Thank you" before she gets to her feet and stands in front of Miko, looking up slightly at her face while the mask switches to that of the Hyottoko. "I shall bring the tea outside once it is warmed up." Byakuren comments as she picks up the pot in front of her and gently rises to her feet, and Miko states with a respectful bow "Then I will be looking forward to that."

Miko and Kokoro then go their separate ways from Byakuren for the moment, leading to them navigating their way back through the Myouren Temple to reach the entrance. Along the way, Miko takes a brief glance behind her and asks of Kokoro "So how are you doing today?" "I feel like I've been answering that question a lot today…But the answer is the same, I am doing well." Kokoro says with a slight bit of dry humor in her voice for the first part.

"That does appear to be the case. Your complexion is well, you are in good spirits, and soon enough you'll be reuniting with someone you haven't seen for quite a few months." Miko says, but then with a subtle grin and a placement of her shaku against the front of her mouth she says "And yet, I can tell that you are worried about some things. Remember Kokoro, it's pointless to try and hide things from me, but that just means that I am more than ready to hear you out if you wish to talk."

Kokoro lifts her head up and says immediately after Miko's offer "Well, my plays are currently cancelled due to a lack of interest from the humans…Daddy, is it possible that you might have any ideas of what I should do?" The Taoist leader said with the utmost honesty in response "I would have plenty of ideas, seeing as how my mind is a landscape filled with artistic brilliance…But plays are not my joy in life, and even though you are my adopted daughter I do not wish to overshadow your work with my ideas. Instead, take a suggestion from me as compensation…Do not panic when it comes to ideas, something will eventually come up that will inspire you to make a new play."

"Will it really?" Kokoro asked with a curious tilt of her head, to which Miko replies with a nod and a confident sounding remark of "Gensokyo is a land of fantasy. Wonders and intrigue await no matter where you venture to. For the budding play-maker, artist, or author, this place is a realm of infinite possibility…But that is assuming you can survive." Ending things off with a gruesome reminder of Gensokyo's hostile environments, Miko quickly says to the young menreiki in a more cheerful tone "Anyways, is there anything else you wish to speak about?"

Kokoro shakes her head in response, something Miko notices and raises an eyebrow to, but as she said earlier she would not try to force Kokoro to speak. By the time this conversation had come to an end, the two had arrived at the front doors of the temple, which Miko pushes open with one hand to reveal the way to the outside. Kokoro briefly took the lead to look at the bottom of the staircase, where she finds that Nue and Ichirin had gone. Murasa was gone as well, but the menreiki would have no way of knowing that she was even there in the first place.

Kyouko was still there with broomstick still in her hands, and with her were two particular figures. One was a young girl barely taller than Kokoro with grey eyes, grey hair tied into a loose ponytail, and a uniform that contains a kariginu, suikan and a purple skirt. The other person was a mature adult with long brown hair that had a leaf-shaped hair clip atop of it, and she wore a nice thick set of clothes complete with a checkered scarf, sandals, and glasses.

As the sound of the door creaking open is heard from the bottom of the staircase, the three figures turn to watch Kokoro and Miko walk down. The lady with the brown hair smiles, and upon noticing this Kokoro runs past Miko to go greet the person in question. Her excitement manifested in the form of the Ko-omote mask by the time she reaches the bottom of the staircase, and the lady walks forward so the two stand a fair few feet away from each other once they were done.

With the lady folding her arms into her puffy sleeves, she says to the young menreiki "It has been a while, Kokoro." It was the first time today that Kokoro hadn't started a conversation off by being asked how she was doing, which just told her that the lady knew her well-enough to not require such an inquiry. "Mamizou-san, is it really you?" A term of endearment and a disbelieving use of words showed just how surprised and happy she was to see Mamizou again.

With a tiny smile, Mamizou starts to reach for the back of her clothes while saying in a humored tone of voice "Does anyone else you know have a tail this fluffy?" A brief puff of smoke forms beneath Mamizou's clothes, causing them to puff outward as her striped-brown tanuki's tail is held out in the grasp of her right hand, where she then wags it around a bit to ensure to Kokoro that it is authentic. Behind them, Kyouko lets out a cute sounding squeak out of response to the fluffiness of Mamizou's tail, while Futo blushes and both tries and fails to hide her feelings regarding said tail.

After a momentary pause where Kokoro glances at the tail, the young menreiki proceeds to leap at Mamizou, with the tanuki poofing her tail away so she can free her arms and catch Kokoro in her warm embrace, the two of them wrapping their arms around each other's backs while Kokoro nestles against Mamizou's chest and says in a somewhat merry tone of voice "I missed you so much, Mamizou-san…" The tanuki could feel Kokoro's emotions exuding from her body as the two shared a hug, and with a gentle rub atop her head Mamizou said in a warm but apologetic tone of voice "Forgive me for not seeing you since the incident with the Celestial, Kokoro. There were some things I needed to deal with, which is why I entrusted Miko and Byakuren to take care of you in my stead."

Kokoro and Mamizou simultaneously let go of each other, and once Kokoro steps back a bit she looks up at Mamizou and says to her honestly "They have treated me well, but that doesn't mean I haven't missed the ways you tried to help me before." With the tanuki folding her arms into her sleeves and a slight teardrop forming in her right eye, Mamizou proceeds to mention "You don't have to think so fondly of me. Our time together was short, and I didn't do enough to teach you everything necessary to survive in Gensokyo."

"That's fine, I have tried to correct that by learning about Gensokyo on my own since then. Please, ask me any question you wish." Kokoro gives an earnest request towards the tanuki, and with a goofy smile on her face she says in a drawn out manner "Weeellll…" Despite Kokoro's stoic nature, there was a sense of anticipation in her eyes as Mamizou briefly glanced down at her, which the tanuki could not ignore as she said softly to her "Very well, I shall start immediately."

"First question, what is the name of the tree residing in the Hakugyokurou, and what is it capable of doing?" Mamizou asked, and Kokoro replied after a moment of thought "The Saigyou Ayakashi, a tree youkai capable of luring to their deaths beneath it's branches and then draining their souls from their bodies." The tanuki nodded her head to show that Kokoro was correct, and Kyouko cheered on from behind by proclaiming "Way to go Kokoro!"

"That was such-eth an easy question. I laugh-eth at your attempts to bewilder this immature youkai." Futo says, her voice having a terrible accent that was actually the way she chose to speak. Mamizou glanced behind her and said in a mischievous tone of voice "Then by all means, you are welcome to throw one out yourself." With a haughty laugh and a jerk of her head back for a moment Futo states with the utmost confidence in what she was planning to say "Verily well, tanuki, I shall show-eth you my quizzing prowess!"

"What-eth is the name of my Last Word?" Futo asks, putting on a very smug grin that that looked incredibly goofy on her face due to how young her appearance was. But her arrogance is replaced with the utmost shock as Kokoro quickly answers "Inferno Reformation." Futo's jaw drops so far that you could barely see her neck, her eyes widened so much that just a light tap on the back of her head would knock them right out of their sockets, and as she stutters in disbelief Miko can be seen humorously chuckling from behind Kokoro.

"C-Crown Prince! You would say-eth such things to others?" Futo said in response to Miko's chuckling, and as the female prince shakes her head to deny involvement in this matter Kokoro glances at the shikaisen and tells her straight up "Futo, you and I fought before, remember? You proclaimed the name of your Last Word when you activated it against me…" Futo blushes and says while shaking her hands out in front of her "I-I am not such a show-off that I would do such-eth a thing!"

"Futo, your question was answered fair and square, just accept defeat gracefully so we can continue on." Miko says in a gentle tone of voice to avoid any problems from her trusted aide, and with the words of her prince guiding her to a more relaxed state of mind the embarrassed Futo says "Verily well, Crown Prince." Though an apology would also have been appreciated for her immature behavior, Miko did not pursue the matter further and gave the nudge for Mamizou to continue asking questions.

"So far so good Kokoro. But this question shall truly test your knowledge. Tell me, in the fewest words possible, what Miko's first name means." Mamizou asked, and with a moments thought once more the young menreiki glanced back at Miko while saying "Wealthy intelligent ears." The Crown Prince chuckles merrily, admitting to the tanuki since Kokoro answered the question correctly "I taught her that one myself. A name such as that is fitting for one of my status, wouldn't you say, Kokoro?"

The menreiki nods her head, and with a brief chuckle Mamizou admits proudly towards her and Miko "You have taught her well then, Miko. It does my old heart good knowing that you have done your research, Kokoro." The tanuki then reached into the recesses of her clothes' pockets with her right hand, shuffling around in it for a few moments before she grabs what she was searching for and pulls it out with an object resting atop her palm.

It was a miniature wood doll made to look exactly like Kokoro, complete with a replica of the Ko-omote mask held off to the side of her face. It was as big as the young youkai's hand, and included a smooth wood stand for Kokoro to balance the doll with. "Take this. I crafted it myself in preparation for meeting you again, Kokoro." As the menreiki takes the doll and looks at it in great detail, Miko comments in a surprised tone of voice "I'm surprised that you dabble in wood-craft, tanuki."

"I dabble in a lot of things, Crown Prince. This old mind houses many talents." Mamizou replies, poking at the side of her head twice while smiling mischievously. Kokoro then says to the tanuki "This is a beautiful doll. Thank you for making it for me, Mamizou." Mamizou glances down and says in an appreciative tone of voice "I worked on it to the best of my ability. I am glad you enjoy it."

As Kokoro continues to look at the miniature version of herself, she notes the mask chosen by Mamizou to represent her emotions and finds herself wondering why she specifically chose "joy". But before she can inquiry about this, Byakuren finally comes out of the temple with a plate holding multiple tea cups at the top, one for each of her newly arrived guests. As she descends the stairs she looks past Mamizou and notices Futo standing still, a disgruntled look on her face and her fingers fidgeting around a bit.

So long as she wasn't burning anything down, Byakuren could let out a sigh of relief and then proceed to say to her company "Mamizou, welcome back to our temple. Here, take a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable." The respect the Buddhist held for the tanuki could be heard in the way she spoke, and once at the bottom of the staircase she holds the plate out so Mamizou can reach over Kokoro and take a cup of tea from Byakuren.

The Buddhist backs off to allow Kokoro space to move around, and then gives a cup of tea to Miko, who gestures the cup at Byakuren out of thanks. Byakuren then goes to give a cup to both Futo and Kyouko while Mamizou takes a sip and says in a complimenting tone "Fantastic. Nothing like tea in the middle of the transitional period between winter and spring." "I am glad you enjoy it, Mamizou Futatsuiwa." Byakuren responds with after giving out the rest of the tea.

The tanuki glances over her shoulder and says to her afterwards "If I may make a suggestion though, you might want to use a couple less leaves in the brew." "I will keep that in mind, thank you." Byakuren says with a gentle smile on her face as she passes by Mamizou and goes to place the plate on the very bottom of the staircase. Once there, the Buddhist notices the small wooden doll Kokoro was holding and comments in a delighted tone of voice "Now where did you get something like that?"

Kokoro holds it up to present it to Byakuren, then gestures back with the other hand to signify that Mamizou was responsible. Byakuren looks at the tanuki and says "That was really nice of you to make that for her. Is that what you have been doing since we last saw you?" This inquiry leads to Mamizou mischievously smiling before she replies "Not at all. More specifically, that is not the only thing I have done over the last few months."

"Oh, do tell." Byakuren asks out of curiosity, and Mamizou gives a wink at her before mentioning "Oh don't worry about it, there's nothing really exciting to report on my end. I've just been continuing to stick around in the Human Village, minding my own business." "Now that you mention it, I'm surprised you are using your human guise around us." Byakuren points out while rubbing the bottom of her chin out of intrigue.

"Ah yes, I'm glad you pointed that out. Tee-hee, at this point I get the feeling that I do this out of habit. But if you want me to become a tanuki, then I will be more than happy to." Mamizou's offer is rejected by Byakuren, who points out to her "Take whatever form you're comfortable with." "Then I will continue to be a human for now. Now, onto other matters…Byakuren, Miko, how have you handled yourselves as Kokoro's parents over the last few months?"

Miko steps up to the plate first, telling the tanuki while holding her shaku against her chest with one hand and sipping tea with the other "It was certainly an interesting start…There was plenty of tension to deal with on her end due to the events of that incident, so to make things easier we decided to have her go to each of our temples by herself at first. Once she learned to be at ease around us, we then decided to work towards meeting at the Myouren Temple whenever possible so we can spend time with Kokoro together."

"Miko and I can put aside the differences in our religions for the sake of helping Kokoro out, but as far as our followers go…Well, it's a good thing we are around to keep them in-check, otherwise there'd be danmaku flying everywhere." Byakuren comments as she leans to the left to make sure Futo still isn't doing anything bad. Kyouko is trying to strike up a conversation with the shikaisen, but she is too stubborn to do anything but pout at her current predicament.

"Or worse, fire." Miko jokingly comments as she takes one final sip from her tea cup and bends down to place it back on the plate while Byakuren lets out an exasperated sigh and says "Yes, there is definitely that to worry about too…" "Well, considering the Myouren Temple hasn't yet burned down, I would say things aren't going too bad on that front." Mamizou remarks in a very humored tone of voice.

Mamizou then glances down at Kokoro, who was looking straight up at her with her head tilted in a curious manner, and now that the conversation between the tanuki and her adopted parents was paused she decided to put her own thoughts on the table by mentioning "I have really enjoyed my time with mommy and daddy, but I would also like to start spending time with you again, grandma."

That final word made the tanuki's composure break out of shock for a few moments, while Byakuren and Miko found themselves equally surprised by such a proclamation. Byakuren lets out a cherishing "Awwww…" while Miko tries her hardest not to laugh at how cute the remark was coming from the mouth of the stoic menreiki. Once she composed herself enough, however, Miko glanced at the wide-eyed Mamizou and said to her "Truth be told, that describes you very well in relation to Kokoro."

Mamizou lifts her head up and re-adjusts her glasses with a gentle nudge of her right pointer finger, then looks at Miko and starts to laugh at this whole situation, showing that she was more surprised than offended at what Kokoro said. "To think that an old woman like me could still find herself becoming part of this oddball family." Mamizou states, after which Miko taps her shaku against her chin and comments "An eternal prince reborn as a woman, a Buddhist seeking to convert Youkai to her religion, a tanuki who seems to prefer being a human, and a young Youkai whose emotions can currently be projected mostly through her masks…And yet, none of us feel any doubts about this working out, do we?"

"If you are making it work out so far, then I can't imagine much stopping you from continuing this successfully." Mamizou remarks, though for a brief moment she appeared to grimace, something Kokoro happened to catch as she continued to look at her with innocent eyes. "But I do have to wonder…Why did you come back now of all times, Mamizou?" Byakuren inquired, and with the tanuki putting her smile on brightly she said "Well, I was planning on staying hidden for a while so I could do nothing to stunt Kokoro's growth after the last incident, as I said before, but as fate would have it I ran into Miko today in the Human Village. After a brief chat, I decided that it would be safe to come see Kokoro again."

"So does that mean you'll be coming around here more often?" Byakuren asked, hoping deep down that the answer would be yes since she enjoyed the tanuki's company. Mamizou nodded once, responding to her inquiry by also mentioning "Here, Miko's temple, the Human Village, wherever Kokoro ends up being, I'll make sure to visit her more often from here on out." "Thank you, Mamizou-san…" Kokoro said with an appreciative nod of her head as the Ko-omote mask appears beside her face.

"Oh, you're very welcome Kokoro. Now then, if it's alright with the two of you, as Kokoro's grandmother, there's something I wish to discuss with her by ourselves for a few minutes." Mamizou comments on while glancing at the two adopted parents. Byakuren gestures to the right politely and says "If you need privacy to speak, feel free to go over there. Miko and I can talk for a little bit while you do that."

"Then that is what I will do." Mamizou says after bowing her head forward enough to not bonk Kokoro in the process. After folding her arms into her sleeves, the tanuki turns to the left and starts to walk in that direction, with Kokoro following close behind without requiring any prompt from either party. Byakuren and Miko sit on the staircase to chat, with the Taoist prince laying her shaku beside her and taking a brief moment to glance at Kokoro and Mamizou with a curious smile on her face.

Once the two of them are a fair distance away from everyone else, Mamizou turns around and looks down at Kokoro, choosing not to skirt the matters that were on her mind as she quietly asked "So, how are things going between you and that Celestial?" Kokoro's mask changed immediately to show surprise, and with a sly grin on her face the tanuki replies "Are you really surprised that I know?"

"Of course I am. How did you figure that out?" Kokoro asks, and Mamizou proceeds to explain while gesturing her right hand out "When you were unconscious the last night of the incident, I actually spoke with the Celestial about everything that had been happening…Not meaning to sound arrogant, but I would like to think that by speaking to her I managed to stop things from getting worse. Though as to how I know you were meeting her after the incident, I heard it through the grape vine thanks to a little oni."

"Suika, right?" Kokoro asks, and Mamizou nods her head in response. "Do not worry Kokoro, I will say nothing to your parents about you visiting Tenshi. I can trust that she no longer intends to cause trouble with you." Placing one hand against her chest, Kokoro says in an appreciative tone of voice "Thank you very much, Mamizou-san."

The tanuki rubs the bottom of her chin and asks of the menreiki "Also, I heard a rumor that you have been visiting the Scarlet Devil Mansion lately. I must admit, that sounds rather crazy after what you and the Celestial did there, but I imagine you can tell me what's going on with that." Kokoro pauses for a moment and then replies "The owner of the mansion requested my help with something very important, something that only someone of my abilities can handle.:

"I will not pursue that matter further, I just wanted confirmation of that rumor." Mamizou says with a curious grin on her face, and once she folds her arms back into her sleeves the tanuki is then asked by Kokoro "Mamizou-san, what were you really doing in the months since I last saw you?" "I assure you Kokoro, there is nothing of importance that I have been doing lately."

"…Is that really the case, or do you just not feel comfortable telling me about what you've been up to?" Kokoro comments, her head sinking low out of melancholy, and it was up to the tanuki to quickly lift her spirits back up by wagging her right pointer finger and stating "There's just nothing interesting to say to you, Kokoro. Like I said, I just mostly hung around the Human Village, maybe read the occasional book here and there…"

Kokoro lifts her head up, feeling a little less doubt on her mind as she gives the tanuki a nod and says "I believe you, Mamizou-san." "I'm glad you do, Kokoro. By the way, I know this is going to sound weird, but I want you to trust me with what I'm about to request from you." The tanuki says, and with a curious tilt of the head from Kokoro Mamizou proceeds to say "I want you to challenge your father to a one-card Danmaku duel."

"A Danmaku duel…Against daddy?" Kokoro was incredibly conflicted on going through with such an idea, and with a subtly sly grin on her face Mamizou commented "All will make sense once you two duel. Of course, you don't have to fight if you do not feel comfortable doing so. After all, I don't know if you've even developed Spell Cards for a standard Danmaku duel." Kokoro shakes her head and states "No, I have developed a couple spell cards for my own use. I will go challenge father to a duel now."

The menreiki turns around and starts to head back to the entrance of the Myouren Temple, with Mamizou following close behind after widening her grin and remarking "Lets see if you have retained the strength you had against Tenshi…" Kokoro eventually makes it to the staircase, where she turns to look at Miko and waits for her to take a break in her conversation with Byakuren before she comments "Daddy…"

Once Miko's attention was grabbed and both her and Byakuren turned to face her, Kokoro stretched her arms out and summoned forth her two paper fans, using a flick of the wrists to spread them out while the monkey mask appeared to show how awkward she felt as she brandished one fan out and said "I-I challenge you to a one-card danmaku duel!" Byakuren flinched in surprise, but Miko just curls her lips into a curious grin and said while tapping her shaku against her chin "I accept your request. After all, you should try and practice your danmaku as much as possible in case that shrine maiden or magician suspects you of being part of an incident."

Byakuren looks at Mamizou in a somewhat suspicious manner and asks of her "Just what did you say to her to get her to do this?" The tanuki innocently shrugs her shoulders and says "She just wished to have a Danmaku duel, who was I to try and dissuade her?" "Hmmm…" Byakuren felt there was more to the story than what was being said, but she did not pressure Mamizou further on this since Miko accepted their adopted daughter's request without hesitation.

The Crown Prince rose to her feet and pointed towards the sky with her shaku while saying "Let us take to the skies. We wouldn't want to damage your mother's temple, after all." Kokoro and Miko then lift off from the ground and head high into the sky, with the four observers down below glaring up to see what they could of their upcoming battle. Miko and Kokoro float at least twenty feet apart from one another, with the divine prince holding her shaku out in front of her and summoning forth about four spell cards in a single flash of light.

"Let's see here, we shall be having a one-card duel?" Miko ponders which card she wants to use for a few seconds before her shaku ends up gently tapping the second one from the left, which also causes the rest of the cards to fade out from view. Meanwhile, Kokoro holds both of her fans horizontally in front of her body, summoning a spell card above each one. She glances at them both for a little bit, followed by her deciding to tap the bottom of the right one with her fan to choose it for battle. She then lets the spell card float out and spin in front of her face while waiting for her father to finish making her decision.

Miko imbues her shaku with light and taps the spell card she has chosen while declaring "Hermit Sign 'Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun'!" While Kokoro taps her spell card with her now folded-up fan and states "Idiom of Emotion 'The Endless Dance of Night'" As both spell cards are activated, two mystical leaves composed out of gold and violet lines appear below Miko's feet, with her body being enveloped in a very bright yellow, spherical glow.

Kokoro meanwhile summons forth two masks, the Raiden and Ko-omote ones specifically, and surrounds herself in a pale blue aura of fire while spreading her fans out. Waving one fan forward, Kokoro sends out a wave of blue fireballs roughly the size of her body, with the fireballs going one at a time in the order that they were released. Meanwhile, the two masks send out two swift violet lasers forward before they split apart into hundreds of tiny bullets that spread out across the sky.

The menreiki alternates between both fans for her attacks, firing off from her masks after each swing to keep up the pressure on Miko, who released the light around her body in the form of a spherical expanse of medium-sized glowing yellow orbs as bright as her sacred blade. Miko stayed entirely in place for a bit as she analyzed the nature of Kokoro's spell card, holding her shaku against her chest until the moment that the bullets from Kokoro's fans got close enough to force her to move to the right, a couple of the bullets skimming the sides of her body as she flew.

Kokoro was flying around the circumference of the spherical expanse while continuing her attacks, positioning her masks perfectly so everything would always flow smoothly when she swung her fans out. She took a couple direct hits from the bullets Miko fired but continued on with her assault. Miko summoned forth more yellow bullets when the last barrage came to an end, but that required her to stay still and take a few bullets from Kokoro's spell card.

Thankfully, the most she had to deal with was from the tiny bullets splitting off from the lasers, so she didn't take too much damage. Though she continued to examine Kokoro's spell card as she slowly spun around to follow her path around her spherical assault, Miko found that it was hard to dodge the attack with a spell card that forced her to occasionally stay still, and the timing of the lasers meant that she couldn't go left and right during those moments.

But on the other hand, Kokoro didn't seem to be entirely invested into this Danmaku duel. She was running into bullets quite frequently, even though there was usually enough gaps between them for to weave around. Miko's ability to sense people's desires also showed her that Kokoro desired to just get things over with quickly. As the Crown Prince makes note of this matter, Kokoro gets hit by a few more bullets while she in turn grazes past whatever bullets she could. "Hmmm…So it seems the tanuki's assumption was correct." Miko whispered out behind the cover of her shaku as she sends out another wave of bullets.

This barrage turned out to be the last one of the battle, as a few more bullets caused Kokoro's spell card to shatter, sending her tumbling back in the air as the effects of Miko's own card vanish. The Crown Prince swings her shaku out to the side and grabs her spell card out of the air. Looking at it for a moment, she realizes that she lost half of the power of her spell card from Kokoro's own. If the menreiki had been more involved with the duel, it was likely that she either would have won or gotten much closer to victory than this.

Once Kokoro has gotten her bearings and positioned herself back upright in the air, a mask expressing disappointment showed up beside her before Miko began to kindly clap. Kokoro looked across the sky and saw her smiling proudly, and soon enough Miko said "You did well Kokoro, that was a fantastic and swift duel." This lifted the menreiki Youkai's spirits, and the Ko-omote mask appeared as she murmured out the word "Daddy…"

Miko then gestures towards the ground, signaling Kokoro to descend so they can hold a conversation down there. Once they land on the ground Byakuren folds her hands together and says "Sorry you lost Kokoro, but I liked the spell card you created." Kokoro nods her head and mentions "I made it a month ago when I was bored. I think that was also the first time I've seen that spell card of yours, daddy."

"That it is. But this is also the first time we've had a duel since the incident where I met you, and we were playing by different rules." Miko says, choosing not to bring up the matter of Kokoro's lack of motivation to duel. Then Mamizou mentions "Actually, I would say for the first time doing a standard Spell Card duel, she performed admirably. It's not like people are naturally talented when it comes to danmaku…Minus the shrine maiden…So some mistakes are understandable."

"But thank you for that battle, daddy. I will try and duel you again some other time." Kokoro bows her head respectfully towards Miko, and the Crown Prince gracefully bows as well. "Now then, since that duel is out of the way, I think I will go back into the temple and make another pot of tea for us. But I will require some tea leaves, so Kyouko, Futo, would you kindly go into the garden and pluck some leaves for me?" Byakuren says while clasping her open hands together in front of her chest.

"Sure thing!" Kyouko says enthusiastically. Futo is about to object to the request, but Miko subtly glares at her and she zips her lips immediately. The two then move for the garden, and after Kokoro watches them leave the area she slowly turns around and states respectfully to her adopted mother "Forgive me mother, but I am going to have to skip out on another cup of tea today. I have somewhere else I need to be, and I believe I might be late if I stick around any longer."

"Oh? That's right, I suppose you do have somewhere else to go, don't you? …Be careful over there, ok Kokoro?" Byakuren gives her adopted daughter her motherly concern, and after drawing her skirt out to the sides and respectfully bowing Kokoro glances towards Mamizou and states "I will be seeing you again soon, grandma. You too, daddy." With a gesture of her hand out of her sleeve Mamizou states "I think I will be spending a night at the temple, so if you wish to meet me again, come back here tomorrow."

Kokoro nods her head out of agreement towards that idea, and it was after that that she turns around and takes flight away from the Myouren Temple. Miko and Mamizou then choose to stay outside while Byakuren goes to repair the water for the tea. Once Byakuren was ensured to be out of earshot, Miko turned to the tanuki and said to her while lowering her shaku beside her body "So, what did you think of Kokoro's performance?"

Mamizou cocked a sly grin and said in response while glancing up at the warm blue sky "She performed pretty much how I expected. She didn't show the same level of power that she used against the Celestial when dueling you, and it's obvious that it was because she was hesitant to fight in the first place. Of course, I feel there's more to it than that…" "Mind telling me your thoughts, tanuki?" Miko asks in an intrigued tone of voice.

"Well, you know how I was the only one who witnessed the battle between Kokoro and the Celestial? I could sense that a couple of her masks broke apart, and her power increased substantially afterwards…Considering the rumors I heard of the Celestial's strength, the fact that Kokoro won so easily either shows that the Celestial isn't that strong, or…" Mamizou pauses for a moment, followed by her glancing at Miko and saying in a serious tone of voice "Kokoro is potentially one of the strongest Youkai in all of Gensokyo."

"And by potentially, you mean?" Miko asks, and Mamizou is not hesitant to reply by saying "Kokoro has clearly not been left with the same level of power she used against the Celestial. I theorize that she can only access that power when she experiences an emotion connected to the masks that have now been broken. She would never have any reason to be seriously enraged in a battle against you, Crown Prince."

"But of course. However, I have to ask, why is Kokoro's potential power important to you?" Miko's question would not receive an answer despite her curious expression, as Mamizou lowers her head and states "That is not something you need to concern yourself with for the moment. I can assure you though, I am not planning on getting Kokoro into any trouble. Just continue what you're doing with her, and perhaps we'll see if another one of her masks will break."

"…Mamizou Futatsuiwa, at the very least though, I think Byakuren should know what we've been discussing." Miko comments in a rather stern tone of voice, and the tanuki glances at her before mentioning "We will do so soon enough. No reason to concern her with this unless something bad occurs, right?" The way Mamizou smiled as she said that made Miko tap her shaku against her chin while stating quietly "Very well."

Suddenly though, Miko draws her blade and holds it at Mamizou's throat, giving her a firm stare as she says "However, if any harm comes to Kokoro because of this, I will not hesitate to cut your throat, tanuki." Mamizou did not look at all concerned with Miko's stern threat, and said to her immediately "You do not need to worry. I love Kokoro as much as you do." "I figured as much. However, I have no intention of letting Kokoro become a battle-hungry Youkai. I went along with your plan to duel her because it was a playful one, but that's as far as things should go with her."

Miko then sheathes her sword, followed by her letting out a sigh and stating "It's really interesting, wouldn't you say, that despite being a Youkai Kokoro acts much more like a human adolescent?" "She is certainly one of a kind in this land of fantasy." Mamizou remarks, and the Crown Prince rubs the bottom of her chin while saying "Yes, that is also true. Though I do wonder how this came to be…Hmm, anyways, I think I am going to go check on Hijiri and make sure the tea is going well."

Miko then departs for the innards of the Myouren Temple with her thoughts set on Kokoro's strange circumstances, and with Mamizou left alone the tanuki folds her arms into her sleeves and murmurs to herself "…I wonder, perhaps, if Kokoro could be the one capable of stopping her once and for all. Forgive me Miko, but if nothing else works I will have to use her for battle…" As the tanuki laments what she may have to do, a familiar gap that she never noticed on the back of her clothes seals up, with a barely audible chuckle being heard coming from it…

_Next Time: Britishness Returns: Final Flandre 13!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: My Playdate With the Devil's Sister**

By the time Kokoro has departed from the Myouren Temple it was midway through the day. She was feeling pretty good after seeing Mamizou again for the first time in a while, which made her summon forth the Ko-omote mask. But then she started thinking about her loss to her father in that danmaku duel, which caused the mask to swiftly change to that of the old woman to show her melancholy. "Daddy and mommy are so good at Danmaku, and I just can't learn how to do it right…" Kokoro comments in a lamenting tone.

She then starts to think back to the time where she first caused an incident for Gensokyo, where she fought her adopted mother and father along with the vicious shrine maiden at the tail end of it all. Kokoro sort-of won the danmaku duel at the time, but the menreiki recalls that it wasn't because of her own efforts that she succeeded. The three religious leaders were not in sync during their duel, and ended up hurting themselves more than they helped.

Kokoro remembers that she also wasn't fully into the battle by that time, especially after defeating everyone else that had been involved in the trouble-making over the course of that incident. When she recalls this, she also realized that she felt the same sensation when dueling Miko moments ago. "…Maybe I shouldn't try to worry about this. But then again, daddy might not be proud of me if I don't learn how to do Danmaku…" Kokoro comments to herself in a quiet manner.

The menreiki then shakes her head, leading to her saying "No, daddy isn't like that. It doesn't matter at all how I perform in danmaku…But I have to wonder, why do I have no motivation to do it?" Kokoro, realizing she had a bit of time to spare before she needed to be at her next destination, stops in place and summons her fans, spreading them out so she can summon forth her two personally created Spell Cards in front of her face.

As she looked at these spell cards, the reflections of her creativity and soul, she realized one important fact about both of them. "I only created you two because I was bored…I don't think you would have existed otherwise." With her thoughts focused on the subject of Danmaku, Kokoro then proceeded to make her spell cards fade away while remarking "In Gensokyo, conflicts are supposed to be resolved with Danmaku, that's what prevents the humans from being slaughtered by the more powerful Youkai…"

Kokoro's eyelids lower halfway, and she says to herself "But in doing Danmaku, humans and Youkai fight with all of their hearts, which means giving into their aggression or desires…Has there ever been a case of an incident that was resolved by two parties sitting down and talking peacefully without performing Danmaku?" This question could not be answered with a yes, thanks in part to the menreiki knowing that even her mother, the nicest person she's known besides Mamizou, chose to use Danmaku at the end of her incident.

"…I wonder if any has ever even considered doing that." Kokoro pondered after a momentary pause, and came to dread the realization that she was probably the only person in Gensokyo who would consider this possibility of incident resolving. In fact, if she suggested this to anyone else, she'd be laughed and called a heretic considering how religiously everyone follows the spell card rules.

Kokoro shakes her head after those thoughts pass through her mind, saying to herself while perking her head up and trying to think happier thoughts "I can't let myself get too melancholic…It will interfere with my meeting today otherwise. I don't ever have to get involved with incidents again anyways…" The menreiki then continued to fly forward towards her destination, the fabled and feared Scarlet Devil Mansion.

On the way to this mansion, the menreiki finds herself once again thinking back to the past when she was first called to the mansion by it's owner, the eternally young nocturnal vampire Remilia Scarlet. But before she let her memories rewind to the past, Kokoro dryly commented "Hmm, I seem to be flashbacking a lot today…How odd."

_It was a few months back, sometime after the day Kokoro had been approached by Byakuren and Miko and the incident involving the inchling that the menreiki had miraculously managed to sleep through all the way. On this day, Kokoro had bought some fruit from one of the human villagers and was planning to eat them on her stage in the center of the village, but someone was there waiting for her by the time she went to sit down, and their appearance made Kokoro freeze up in shock._

_It was a female human wearing a dark-blue maid's outfit with a small frilly white apron and headband in front of her waist and atop her braided silver hair respectively. The maid, wearing red-heeled shoes below her grey stockings, took a step forward towards the stage Kokoro was sitting on and stared at her with her grey eyes but didn't at first say a word. The menreiki worried about the presence of this person, who went by the name of Sakuya Izayoi, mostly because their first and only encounter before this was less than pleasant._

_Under the assumption that the maid was seeking revenge as she reached for the area where her knives were held on a belt on her right thigh, Kokoro considered quickly flying towards an occupied house so the maid wouldn't try anything, but remembered that the maid had the power to freeze time around her. Thus it was a pleasant surprise when instead of drawing out a knife the maid elegantly pulled forth a small red letter and held it out in front of her with barely a smile on her face._

"_My mistress requests that you read this. You would be wise to do so, menreiki." Sakuya says, slightly threatening the Youkai in the process, which while showing Kokoro that the maid held a grudge against her for what happened back then, assured her that she wouldn't try to kill her…yet. Kokoro, after putting her bag of fruits down for the moment, dropped from the stage and stood before the maid so she can take the letter from her hand._

_The maid then folded her arms in front of her apron and waited patiently as Kokoro flipped the letter around and took a moment to sniff it. Sure enough, it smelled like blood, a personal touch likely added in by the vampire and nothing more…At least, that's what Kokoro hoped. Opening the letter up, Kokoro pulled out a rather formally designed piece of paper, with crimson frills wrapped perfectly around the side of a pink sheet. On the paper itself was quite a bit of text written with a precise feather pen, and Kokoro guessed that the librarian of the mansion was responsible for writing this when she looked at it._

_The text said "Hata no Kokoro of the 66-masks, you shall consider it a great honor to have been presented with this letter by my head maid Sakuya. As the head of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and ruler of the crimson night skies, I am someone with rather particular tastes when it comes to people of interest. And you, menreiki, have proven to be quite the interesting little Youkai. As such, I desire to meet with you face-to-face with a proposition in mind. Sakuya shall escort you personally to my mansion, for I cannot be bothered to let myself be seen by the peasants of this world (Patchouli Note: It's actually because she lost her only parasol and can't go out in the sun for now). Sincerely, Remilia Scarlet."_

_At the letter's end, Kokoro lifts her head up to look at Sakuya, and the elegant maid draws her right arm out and said "Are you ready to go?" The menreiki felt pressured into going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel curious about just what the vampire wanted from her. Before she accepted the offer, Kokoro said to Sakuya "May I eat my fruits along the way?" The maid nodded her head, and the youkai turned around to reach for her bag atop the stage, picking it up and turning around so her and Sakuya could take flight away from the Human Village. _

_Along the way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Kokoro plucked some apples and oranges from the bag and ate them with rather large bites, including the peels on the oranges themselves. Sakuya didn't say a word at all during the trip, but the menreiki didn't have a single problem with that since her mouth was constantly filled with fruit. After about ten minutes of flight, Sakuya and Kokoro ended up at the mansion, which from the outside still looked like a two-tier European style mansion made entirely out of red material._

_Descending in front of the gate, Sakuya and Kokoro find the scarlet-haired martial artist Gatekeeper, Hong Meiling, standing cautiously against the right side of the gate. Upon seeing the elegant maid approach, Meiling greets her with a hand salute from the front of her green beret and says "So was your trip a success?" Sakuya gestures to the right with both hands to present Kokoro to the gatekeeper, and with an aloof tilt of her head Meiling asks "This is the Youkai that messed around with all of our emotions? I was expecting someone…more menacing, I guess?"_

_Kokoro tilts her head out of mimicry towards the gatekeeper and proceeds to say herself "And you are the daydreaming gatekeeper, Hong Meiling." Meiling looks surprised to be recognized by this particular Youkai, and with an embarrassed chuckle she says "Well, can't say I'm fond of being recognized as a daydreamer…Not that that's not true sometimes." "You may have time for idle chat later, you two. This Youkai is here to see Lady Remilia." Sakuya points out in an orderly manner._

_Meiling nods her head to show she understands, and with a casual backhand against the gate she creaks it open for Sakuya and Kokoro to go on through. The two pass the gatekeeper on by, and Kokoro innocently waves at her before she passes out of sight. This gesture leads the gatekeeper to lean back against the side of the gate while commenting "…Did someone like her really cause all that trouble? As crazy as it sounds, I might need to get the next issue of that tengu's newspaper to get some answers…"_

_Sakuya opens the door into the Scarlet Devil Mansion and lets Kokoro take the lead, since from this point forward the maid knew that the Youkai was familiar with where to go. "You remember where to find my mistress. I have business to take care of now, but I will know if you try to run." Upon saying that, Sakuya closes the door behind her and glances to the right, noticing some flying fairy maids about to spill some glasses filled with a red liquid. This causes her to spring into action to prevent stains on the floor, leaving Kokoro by herself in this rather uncomfortable environment._

_The menreiki, knowing that she couldn't escape without causing trouble, chose to just head down the hallway to the right of her so she could find the throne room where Remilia Scarlet currently resided. It didn't take long to make it to that room, and right as her body poked out past one of the many pillars keeping this place secure she heard the welcoming sound of the mansion's mistress "Welcome, Hata no Kokoro of the 66-Masks." _

_Kokoro turned to the left with a cautious look in her eyes, and found herself presented with presence of the child-like, purple-haired, bat-winged vampire Remilia sitting on her crimson, jeweled throne with one arm leaning against the side of her head. From afar, even Kokoro could see the intrigued glimmer in the vampire's eyes, but she would find herself drawn away from that when she saw the person standing beside the vampire's throne._

_It was the librarian of the mansion, the purple-haired, pink pajama-like clothes wearing Patchouli Knowledge. Unlike Remilia, Patchouli glared at Kokoro with a look filled with contempt, and she made no effort to show her disdain in being here as she immediately opened up a book and stared down at it to avoid making further eye contact with the menreiki. The fact that the vicious vampire was the most comforting presence inside of this mansion spoke volumes of how much pressure Kokoro felt she was under as she slowly floated closer to Remilia. _

_Once the Youkai was halfway there, Remilia sat upright and said "Do not advance any further." Kokoro stopped immediately and waited for further words from the vampire, and it was only once Remilia laid both of her hands against the arms of her thrones and said to the menreiki "I am Remilia Scarlet, mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and lord of the night. Consider yourself honored to be able to enter my abode." _

_Kokoro curiously tilts her head and asks "Why did you want me to come here?" Patchouli immediately raises her head up and says with a firm glare in her eyes "You would be wise not to demand answers from Remilia, troublemaker." Remilia raises her hand up to quiet her librarian, saying to her with a slightly amused grin on her face "You have spunk, considering your lack of emotions. But Patchouli brings a good point. From here on out, you will be allowed to speak only when I allow it. Understood?" _

_The menreiki nods her head in response, and as she lays her hand back on the throne Remilia says to her "Anyways, since we are on the subject of why I wanted you here, let me just say right now that I have no intention of causing harm to you, even after you came into our mansion and turned me into a laughing mess along. You will find that I am a rather forgiving sort when you do little harm to me or my mansion. However, at Patchouli's request, I cannot ignore the damages you caused to her and my other servants."_

_Kokoro gulped slightly as the vampire's eyelids narrowed menacingly as she spoke, and as the saliva pushed through her throat the menreiki felt it hard to not run away. "Do not fear me, menreiki, I can sense it from here with the utmost ease, being a vampire and all. Trust me when I say that you will be getting off rather lightly all things considered." Remilia says. "Even though she should be executed and her meat used in our cooking after all she's done…" Patchouli murmurs out as she once again hides her face behind a book._

_The vampire glances to the right and says to her friend "Patchouli, you and I both know you feel more resentment towards the Celestial than the young Youkai she manipulated." This is immediately met with Patchouli slamming her book shut before she glares at Remilia and says to her "My reasons may be different for both, but I despise the menreiki just as much as I do the Celestial." _

"…_Anyways, Kokoro. There is something I want you to do for me in exchange for all the damages you did to my servants. It's actually a rather simple task…I want you to be Flandre's friend." The name of Remilia's sister suddenly piques Kokoro's interest, and as she lifts her head up the vampire's smile widens before she mentions "Out of all the people affected in the mansion, Flandre seems to have enjoyed her changes the most. In fact, she specifically mentioned how you had a wonderful tea-time with three of her copies, and would like to have it again with you as herself." _

_After a few seconds of pause, Remilia gestures forth with her right hand to urge Kokoro to respond. The menreiki nods her head in turn and says "I would be more than happy to see Flandre again." "Your enthusiasm is noted…But there's a couple catches." Remilia says, and she then gestures towards Patchouli to hand off the explanation duties to her. The librarian sighs and then closes her book shut once more, glaring over at Kokoro in order to say "As per my suggestion, I will be observing and scheduling all of your meetings with Flandre. Remilia is far too busy with her own affairs to place times for your meetings, you see."_

"_Why will you be observing?" Kokoro inquires, and Patchouli immediately replies "Because I do not trust you. If you do something to make Flandre go out of control, I will be there to calm you down and bring you to Remilia for a definitive punishment." The firmness in the librarian's voice showed Kokoro that she would be wise not to take her lightly. After this moment of seriousness, Remilia laughs for a bit and then proceeds to leap off of her throne. With fingertips held together in front of her dress she started to walk towards Kokoro._

"_There is one other thing you must do before you can accept this task, Kokoro." Remilia says, and with a draw of her right hand out beside her she uses devilish flames to conjure up a scroll of paper, though a quick glance to the left of her would show that Patchouli was just using her magic to help Remilia out with this effect. The vampire used a flick of her wrist to unfurl the scroll, revealing a rather fancily written set of words along with a single line that needs to be filled. Once Remilia stands before Kokoro the Youkai takes the paper from her hand and looks at it._

_A quick skim of the paper revealed everything that had already been said so far by Remilia and Patchouli, and so Kokoro lowered the paper before reaching the bottom of it to look down at the vampire and ask "So am I supposed to sign this?" Remilia nodded with a smile and told the Youkai "It is a contract. With it, I will be assured your loyalty." It was then that with another display of flames created by Patchouli that Remilia was able to have a feather pen put into her grasp._

_This pen was raised up for Kokoro to use in signing the contract, and though she was a bit concerned with Patchouli's involvement in the deal the Youkai nevertheless took the pen from Remilia and went to sign her name on the line. It was a bit of a sloppy job since she hadn't much experience writing, but the vampire did not mind so long as Kokoro left her mark on the paper. With both the pen and contract returned to her possession, Remilia subtly grinned and said "I will see you again in a week, Hata no Kokoro…"_

It was at that point Kokoro's memories of the event come to an end, as she was indulging in them for so long that she quickly realizes that she had flown right past the Scarlet Devil Mansion considering the Misty Lake it resides by was right below her body at that very moment. "…Note to self, abridge your memories during travels…" Kokoro dryly states before she turns around and quickly makes post-haste back where she needed to go.

Along the way back though, she had but one thing to say to herself "…In spite of my initial concerns, everything has been going well at the mansion so far." After passing over the roof of the mansion, Kokoro immediately drops in front of the gates, since procedure dictated that she pass by Meiling before she enters through the doors. Though it was afternoon, Meiling appeared to be in a bit of a sleep, as her eyelids were closed and there was a content smile on her face as though she was dreaming of something. But seeing as Kokoro needed her awake, the menreiki chose to summon forth one of her fans unfurled and poke at Meiling's stomach, since with the way she was resting against the wall the muscles there would be the most ticklish part of her body.

A nice poke was enough to get Meiling giggling in a rather cute manner, and as Kokoro retracted her fan the gatekeeper's eyelids crept open enough for her to see the hair of the menreiki and the mask floating around her head. This snapped Meiling the rest of the way awake as she proclaimed in surprise "Whoa! How long have you been standing around for Kokoro?!" "I just got here." Kokoro quickly replied.

"Oh, well then…" Meiling lets out an embarrassed cough and then folds her arms together, trying to look a little more professional as she says to Kokoro "Alright then! Head on inside and go meet up with the mistress' sister! I hope you two have a pleasant time!" The menreiki put beside her face the Ko-omote mask, saying to Meiling with a gesture of her right hand towards her obviously forced expression of seriousness "You don't have to try so hard, it's just the two of us here."

"That doesn't matter to me!" Meiling exclaims while keeping the same dutiful look in her eyes. The menreiki at this point shrugs and says "Then keep up the good work Meiling." Afterwards Kokoro heads towards the door once Meiling casually kicks the gate open, and as the menreiki heads inside of the mansion she thinks a bit about the gatekeeper. From her observations, the naps happen every now and then, but usually it doesn't prevent Meiling from leaping into action against an invader if they make one wrong step towards the mansion…Nevertheless, this doesn't stop Kokoro from occasionally tickling her awake for her own amusement whenever she comes over.

As Kokoro strolled through the mansion, she saw that the fairy maids were hard at work, though Sakuya was moving around a lot to try and fix their mistakes. For a moment, the menreiki is able to wave at her as she passes by, and the maid replies with a wave of the hand on her own and an elegant smile on her face. Though the two rarely shared a conversation whenever Kokoro passed through the mansion, the maid seems to have eased up a bit around her…Enough to be courteous to her, that is.

The menreiki then passed by Remilia's throne room, where the vampire was nowhere to be found. Seeing how the subject of scarce conversations was on her mind, Kokoro was reminded that she has maybe had two conversations with Remilia ever since she signed the contract. Not that it bothered her, since the vampire seemed to be busy with her own affairs. Passing by the throne room, Kokoro goes a few doors down and enters one particular one on the left, heading down a dimly lit staircase to go for the basement where Flandre was.

At the very bottom, Kokoro was greeted by a circular table with a crimson cloth laid atop it. There were a couple tea cups laid around in front of some fancy jeweled chairs. The room was lit up by a chandelier on the ceiling, and there was a comfy looking bed at the east side of the room with a couple curtains around in case privacy was needed. Sitting at the edge of the bed though was the resident of the this room, Flandre Scarlet, who as usual had her blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wore her signature red dress and vest along with a pink mob cap on her head. As she spread her abnormally designed rainbow crystal wings out, a gentle smile appeared across her face.

"I'm glad you made it here safely, Kokoro." Flandre says politely, speaking just quiet enough so that the menreiki could hear her. "For a moment, Patchouli was worried that you were going to be late." Flandre adds-on to her earlier remark while turning her head to look forward from where she sat. Kokoro followed her glare, finding Patchouli sitting on a very comfy looking chair at the western side of the room with a book in one hand and a mug in the other hand filled with, surprisingly enough considering this is Gensokyo, hot coffee. The librarian briefly glances up at Kokoro with her usual disdain towards her, commenting in a dry tone of voice "You were late by about two minutes. You would be wise to be more punctual in the future."

"You don't need to pester her about that Patchouli. What matters is that she made it." Flandre was more nonchalant about the matter and the librarian was about ready to let out a "humph" in response when she suddenly had to deal with a cough, which lasted a good five seconds before it stopped and allowed her to just go back to reading her book, though not before she took a sip of coffee to help with her cough. Flandre then drops from her bed, using her wings to briefly flutter her descent before she lands on the ground and goes over to Kokoro.

Like Remilia, Flandre was rather short, being just tall enough that the front of her cap could touch Kokoro's nose if she got close enough. As such, Flandre had to lift her head up slightly in order to let Kokoro see her smile, and the menreiki summoned forth her Ko-omote mask to show that she felt joy in meeting the little vampire sister as well. "Come on Kokoro, there's some tea and pastries on the table for us to have today." Flandre says while she ties her hands behind her back and looks intently up at the menreiki.

"…I may pass on the tea today, I had some with my family before I came here." Kokoro notes, choosing to word her sentence carefully so Flandre would understand her reasoning. "Fufufu, it's fine with me, but you have to at least have one or two pastries as compensation." The little vampire laughed differently than you'd expect her to, given her otherwise nice behavior, but Kokoro had learned by now to not bring that up.

Kokoro and Flandre proceed to each of their seats, with the menreiki at the south and the little vampire at the north. The chairs were adjusted so each of them would be sitting evenly across from one another, with the tea and pastries within an arms' reach for them. Flandre was the first to go for the pastries, and plucked one with red liquid seeping out of it from the plate. As Kokoro watched her take said pastry, her face cringed for a moment in disgust.

"…_I enjoy my time with Flandre, I really do…But if the rumors are true, then those pastries are filled with human flesh and blood…" _Kokoro thought to herself before returning her expression to normal so Flandre wouldn't notice. Though the menreiki could easily reach for the plate of pastries herself, the little vampire picked it up by the edge and held it forward slightly while saying with an innocent look in her eyes "Here, take one, I insist."

Luckily for Kokoro's stomach, the little vampire had both a craving for sweets to go along with her hunger for human flesh. Mixed in with the flesh pastries were doughy treats filled with a berry jam, distinctly colored red to make it look like blood. Though the menreiki disliked the color choice, she couldn't help but praise the taste of the pastries themselves whenever she got a chance to have one. The dough and jam blended together perfectly, with the heat of the jam itself allowing the berry flavor to melt within her mouth until it was time to digest.

Kokoro took two of those berry pastries from the plate, and after Flandre has put it down the two of them take a little bit of time to eat their treats. While the menreiki was enjoying hers, the little vampire took such strong bites from her pastries that some of the juices from the flesh drip out onto her chin. Fortunately, Flandre was a rather clean vampire, and upon feeling the juices crossing her skin she quickly drops what she was doing and picks up a nearby napkin to wipe the juice off.

In the meantime, Kokoro thought to herself _"Flandre shouldn't have to feed off of human flesh in order to survive…That's just wrong. I wish I could show her another way to eat, but that would require me to raise an objection to either her sister or Patchouli…" _The menreiki glances to the right at the librarian, and as a mask revealing her fright appears she finishes her thoughts by mentioning _"And Patchouli scares me…"_

This time around Flandre happens to notice the change in masks beside Kokoro's face and says to her "Is something the matter?" The menreiki turns back to face the little vampire and forces her mask to switch to the Ko-omote one while stating "I am feeling fine. How about you?" Switching the subject to something more pleasant, Kokoro listens in as Flandre pours a cup of tea for herself and replies with "I have been doing fine, fufufu. I tried to read a book recently…I didn't like the ending though, so I destroyed it."

Kokoro blinks a few times, reminding herself that for every mature moment Flandre has, there was always going to be a chance that she would say something rather…insane, to say the least. But destroying a book was rather mild for her, though Patchouli could be heard mumbling under her breath that it was apparently one of her favorite books. "Anything else?" Kokoro asks, and with a shake of her head the little vampire stated "Can't say I did much else. Well actually, I did get to see a sunset the one time I left the basement recently."

"What did you think about it?" Kokoro inquires out of curiosity, and as Flandre sets her tea cup down she perks her head up and rubs the bottom of her chin, a fang poking out from her mouth as she smiles fondly regarding the sunset and says "It was somewhat bright, and the sky turned a slight shade of red. I loved how it looked, but I felt rather hungry afterwards." Of course, the menreiki knew just why the sunset made Flandre hungry, and her eyelids drooped slightly while she subtly sighed in response.

Flandre then suddenly clapped her hands together, with Patchouli snapping her attention away from the book for a moment because she assumed something was going to be destroyed, but instead the little vampire said "Hey Kokoro, I have an idea of something we can do to liven things up." The menreiki tilted her head and asked "What is it?" "I'll make a clone, and you can use your powers to reawaken the personality that was created the first time you and I met. Then we can play this game called 'Poker' that Patchouli found a book on at this run-down shop in the Human Village."

"Poker? Does this involve poking each other with something?" Kokoro slips into a moment of ignorant innocence, and this earns a humored laugh from Flandre before she explains "Not at all. It's a game that involves these pieces of paper called cards, 52 of them in fact. I think it'd be more fun if we had three people playing it, even if two of them are me." "Do you even know how to play it?" Kokoro then asks.

Flandre shrugs and says "We'd have to read the rule book, but I bet it's not that complicated. Patchouli should have the book with her. She can hand it to you while I create a-" In the middle of Flandre's sentence, Kokoro is smacked right in the left side of her face by a small hardcover book, with the rebound causing it to land on the table. Flandre awkwardly pauses for a moment before glancing at Patchouli, who nonchalantly lowered her right arm with a sense of satisfaction briefly showing on her face.

"…clone…" Flandre finishes her sentence, then turned towards Kokoro as the menreiki hides her face behind her old woman mask and says "Patchouli probably just missed your lap. Come on Kokoro, I need your help to make this work." The menreiki pulls her mask off and tries to perk up, and with a nod of her to give the approval to continue on with the plan Flandre glances at a chair to the right of her and uses her powers to immediately create a copy of herself that's already sitting once it spawns. Once the clone was there Kokoro focused on it with her own powers and thought to herself about which personality she would bring forth into existence once more.

The last time she was here, Kokoro encountered three different personalities of Flandre. One Polite and British, one Shy and Meek, and another that was Motherly and…didn't have much of a presence really. The decision of who to bring forth was pretty obvious considering her options based on her encounter with all of them, and after calling forth the right emotions from the clone's memories there is a brief moment of silence before any change can be noticed in the clone.

The first thing the clone does is relax her posture and reach for her right eye, poking underneath it and saying in a more posh sounding tone than the original Flandre "I appear to be missing my monocle." As she lowers her hand, a monocle with a golden rim is suddenly thrown into her palm, once again coming from Patchouli, who for some reason had one of those on hand. Kokoro naturally questioned this by trying to ask "Why did you have a mon-" "I like to use one sometimes." Patchouli quickly and bluntly responded, but that just raised further questions.

Nevertheless, those questions weren't pursued as Polite Flandre quickly put the monocle in front of her right eye and looked at her original self and Kokoro with a slight glide of her head back and forth. "It has been some time, Kokoro. How are you doing this fine afternoon?" The Polite Flandre asked, and Kokoro stated while looking slightly exhausted from using her powers "Fine…" "Take a sip of tea Kokoro, you're looking rather pale." Polite Flandre suggests in her kindly tone, and then proceeds to listen to her own words and pick up a cup of tea for herself.

Though this requires her to share the cup with the original, there was no need to worry about spreading germs since they were exactly the same person…Kokoro did wonder if it was possible for a vamprie to get sick for a brief moment, however, upon thinking of that subject. Once a little bit of tea was had from all three parties, the Polite Flandre clapped her hands together and asked "So then, what shall we be doing today?"

Kokoro picked up the book that Patchouli had thrown at her and hands it over to the Polite Flandre, who gently plucks it from the Youkai's grasp and opens it up to look it over. "Interesting…So we're going to be trying out one of these 'card games', as the humans call them? Which one in particular has piqued your interest, my dear friends?" Polite Flandre asks as she slowly scans over the pages of the book.

"The one they call Poker. But we're going to need a deck of those cards first…" As the original Flandre says this, she nonchalantly lifts her right hand up to catch a deck of cards thrown at her by Patchouli, lowering it down onto the table while saying merrily "Thanks, Patchouli!" The librarian gives a thumbs-up from behind her book, and at this point Kokoro was wondering just how prepared Patchouli was for this meeting today…

"Perfect. Now that we have our deck of cards, I think I shall take a moment to go over all the rules of Poker…All 15 pages of them, in fact. Oh, this shall be such an exciting read!" The Polite Flandre was all-too ready to delve into knowledge, and at first the original Flandre and Kokoro sat there with listening ears to absorb all that was being said…But considering all three parties' ineptitude with card games in general, at least an hour was spent trying to figure out the basics of cards themselves, which included Kokoro having to explain to the two Flandres that a "two of hearts" did not mean they needed to find someway to create two Kokoros.

Once they got past the basics of card games, Polite Flandre is able to start reading the rules of Poker to her two listening parties, whose enthusiasm wasn't as high as it was before. More questions continued to pop up with each paragraph read, which ended up dragging things on for almost another hour as the original Flandre's restlessness starts to come closer and closer to the surface with each passing minute.

"-And thus when you put 5 cards in order, that is what is known as a straight." As Polite Flandre makes note of this particular rule, the original Flandre can be seen skimming through the 52 cards with a bored look in her eyes, while Kokoro was lying back in her chair with a mask held against her face as she snores. "So wait, if we need to put 5 cards in order, then what do we do when we come across these cards with letters on them?"

"Those aren't letters, they are just abbreviations of the cards' true names. From highest and lowest, the sequence of cards would be Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens through Ones." Polite Flandre explains, and the original tilts her head and inquires "Kings are higher than Queens? …But that doesn't make any sense. Remilia is the Queen of the Night, and there's none equal or above her…Or so she brags." Polite Flandre shrugs her shoulders and says "If this book came from the outside world, then that is just how the humans' hierarchy works."

"…Hmm…I really don't think this game makes much sense. We've been at this for a couple of hours and we haven't gotten close to starting it either. So I think it's time we play a different game." The original Flandre, bored out of her wits, looks at the deck of cards in her hand and spreads them out while grinning, and with a slightly disturbing laugh she said "Let's play 52 Blow-Up!" Her intent to destroy the cards was clear as day to all parties involved, and being awake enough to hear her speak causes Kokoro to immediately snap her eyelids open and thrust her head up with a surprised mask appearing beside her.

"Flandre, no, you don't need to destroy the cards!" Kokoro says, while Patchouli lifts her head up ready for any trouble to occur. But before Flandre can clench her left hand shut to destroy the cards, her posh clone lowers the card games rule book and says calmly "Flandre, that would be such a waste of perfectly good cards if you destroyed them." For a moment, Flandre stops herself from performing the destructive act, surprising Patchouli entirely. "Hmm? But aren't they only good for this Poker thing?" The original Flandre asked.

"Heavens no. Poker is just one card game you can play. There are plenty more detailed in this book. A quick scan shows me that Poker just happens to be the most complicated one, and likely not the one we should have started with." Polite Flandre states with a calm smile on her face, and Kokoro then follows up by saying "If you want to destroy the cards, that's your decision Flandre…But I think you and I are both curious to see what else we can play with these mysterious cards."

Flandre lifts her eyes up and hums to herself in thought for a few seconds before she says "Well…I guess I might as well let these cards continue to exist." She then gently places the cards against the table and lets out a childish chuckle, and Kokoro and Patchouli both let out a sigh of relief in response. Polite Flandre winks her monocle covered eye at the menreiki to show that she had her back on this, and deep down Kokoro was thankful for the assistance.

"We did spend a couple of hours trying to understand Poker, so perhaps we should wait another time to try the next card game out." Kokoro suggests, and the original Flandre folds her hands together and quietly says "I'd be ok with that, Kokoro." "Ah yes, a breather from this playtime would most certainly allow us a chance to prepare our minds for a new venture tomorrow." Polite Flandre says in the utmost posh-est tone.

Lowering her book for a moment, Patchouli inquires "Then I would assume this session is over for today, Lady Flandre?" Flandre places one finger against her chin and thinks to herself for a moment before saying "Well, I suppose it would be, yes. Wouldn't you agree, Kokoro?" The little vampire looks to the menreiki for an answer from her. Kokoro thinks about her answer for a bit, taking into consideration that it was likely night by this point and she promised to go see Kyouko's concert before she lifted her head up and gave Flandre a brief nod.

"Then it's settled. I suppose now would be the perfect time to eat dinner anyways, fufufu." Flandre says with a little laugh afterwards, as Patchouli gets up from her chair she turns to Kokoro and said to her "You may go for today, but I expect you to be back here again tomorrow at the same time." The menreiki gets up from her chair and lays one hand against her chest, courteously bowing while saying "My compliments to the chef for the jam pastries. I promise I will be back here again tomorrow."

"…I know you will." Patchouli says firmly and coldly to her, which is then followed by the original Flandre leaning forward atop the table in order to wave goodbye, while she adds on to that gesture by saying "Be careful out there Kokoro, who knows what type of terrors might stalk you in the night, fufufu." It was a slightly creepy farewell, but at the very least Flandre showed concerned for the youkai's safety. Polite Flandre took a sip of tea and said with a warm stare towards Kokoro "I will be looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow."

The menreiki then took her leave of the basement, with Flandre keeping her Polite copy out afterwards while she says to Patchouli "Might as well have dinner be made for the both of us." "I will make sure to let the chef know. Do not get into any trouble while I am gone, Lady Flandre." Patchouli switches to a more respective tone now that it was just her and the two little vampires, but then she folds her book up and starts to fly up the stairs, as her weak physical condition made walking a chore.

Back with Kokoro, she finds her way back out of the mansion with relative ease. Remilia was still nowhere to be seen, and Sakuya and the Fairy Maids had all but vanished from sight. As the moon rose past the windows outside, it was clear that the mansion folk were winding down for the night, barring the two vampires who thrive in this sort of atmosphere. After exiting the mansion, the menreiki immediately took flight into the night sky

"…Someday, perhaps, I'll have the courage to ask if I can take Flandre out of the mansion for a little bit." Kokoro says in a lamenting tone, but then she cheers up a smidge as she comes to realize "But today was a good day, in spite of the two hours we wasted on those Poker rules…Now then, it's time to see this 'Choujuu Gigaku' band that Kyouko is a part of…"With curiosity now taking over her mind, the young menreiki flies through the sky to head for the part of the forest that the yamabiko told her to go to, where she would experience a band for the first time…

_Next Time: Musical Birds! Musical Ghosts! Musical…Tsukumogami?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: An Emotion Filled Concert**

The evening dawned upon Gensokyo with the complete setting of the sun and the rising of the glowing moon, which cast a beautiful light upon the trees that Kokoro flew over as she tried to seek out the spot where Kyouko was going to be playing music for her band "Choujuu Gigaku". But after a good couple of minutes of flying around the menreiki realized something rather important about her search that made her stop in place and slightly lower her eyebrows in concern…

"Kyouko didn't tell me which part of the forest I needed to go…" Kokoro murmurs to herself, and after a brief sigh she places one hand against her chin and starts to think about where she should go next. "Kyouko has likely left mommy's temple by now…Knowing her desire to not want mommy to hear her play, she probably holds her 'punk of the rock' concert a good distance away from the temple…And it'd have to be close enough to the Human Village too…"

"Ummm…" Kokoro then holds her right hand out and points towards the forest, but realizes that there was no distinguishable sights for her to use as a way of figuring out where she was. "It seems that I am lost…" The menreiki laments, wondering to herself just why no one has mapped out Gensokyo after all these years of it's existence. Hoping that she wouldn't miss Kyouko's concert after promising to go there, Kokoro picked up her pace a bit so she could continue to scope out the forest, since if nothing else it'd be easy to identify Kyouko by her distinctive ears, even from above.

After about ten minutes of wandering around aimlessly, Kokoro eventually finds Kyouko and a friend of hers standing around on a circular patch of strangely orange grass underneath an opening of trees. The menreiki lowers herself from the sky and lands behind Kyouko and her friend so quietly that they fail to notice her while they appear to be in the middle of a conversation. The friend wore a punk black dress complete with straps and stockings and had distinctive pink hair, owl-like ears, domed hat with bat wings, and a pair of bird-like wings.

To Kokoro's best of knowledge, the bird-like Youkai's name was Mystia Lorelei, and on top of being part of this "punk of the rock" band she had her own food stand somewhere in the forest. As she spoke in a chipper manner, Mystia seemed to be using a somewhat melodic tone while strumming a guitar in a particular rhythm "So the next line is 'My heart beat outshines, it's unpredictable'?"

Kyouko nods her head, and when Kokoro looks at her she notices that the yamabiko is also wearing a punk black dress very similar to Mystia's own, minus the holes in the back for wings. She also had a pair of sunglasses on her face, which puzzles the menreiki since it was a very inappropriate time to be wearing something like that. "That seems like a very odd lyric…Just like the rest of this song, actually. What did you call this song again, Kyouko?" Mystia inquires.

Kyouko can then be seen glancing down at a few pieces of paper she snuck along with her, and remarks in her usually excited tone of voice "It's called 'Ready to Take Off'! I based this song off of you this time, Mystia!" The yamabiko turns her head and closes her eyelids with a bright smile on her face, and from behind Kokoro is able to see her tail wag due to the ruffling of her skirt. "U-Ummm…I don't know if I should be flattered or even more confused…Is cobwebby even a word?" Mystia says while blinking her eyelids quite a few times in rapid succession.

"Apparently, I don't know! Besides, none of our songs tend to have coherency anyways!" Kyouko exclaims, and with an accepting shrug of her shoulders Mystia remarks "Well, it won't be too hard to memorize the song. Too bad I can't do it unless you're around, you know, seeing as I can't read your kanji…" "And that's why we make a great team! You provide the instruments, I provide the voice! You make some food, I write some lyrics! You found us some clothes, and I…umm…Don't actually have an answer to that one." Kyouko's tone quickly goes from enthusiasm to awkwardness

"Point taken." Mystia says, followed by her performing one heavy strum on her guitar out of merriment. Afterwards, she glances at Kyouko and asks her "So hey, didn't you say something about a friend of yours showing up tonight?" Kyouko perks her ears up and says "Yeah! …But I hope she didn't get lost. I may have forgotten to tell her exactly where to go…" After Kyouko awkwardly chuckles to herself, Kokoro lets out a cough to finally get the yamabiko's attention.

Mystia and Kyouko turn their heads to look at the menreiki, with Kyouko putting on a bright smile while the bird Youkai's ears perk up in surprise. "You managed to find us Kokoro! I'm so glad you showed up!" Kyouko exclaims, which is then followed by Mystia glancing at her and saying "Wait, your friend is that menreiki Youkai who caused trouble twice?" She seemed noticeably worried about his revelation, but Kyouko merely nods her head as her response.

With a firm glare towards the puzzled menreiki, Mystia says "You better not try and do anything with your powers. You're lucky you're Kyouko's friend…" The night bird then turns away from Kokoro and starts practicing her guitar for a bit, with Kokoro tilting her head out of curiosity as to why Mystia seemed to dislike her. Kyouko notices this and says in a reassuring tone of voice as she gently pushes her sunglasses down "Don't worry about her Kokoro, she just didn't have a good experience during the last incident."

"You're putting it lightly there, Kyouko." Mystia says in a rather blunt manner as she violently strums at her guitar to let out her frustration, and the yamabiko turns to her and says with an awkward grin on her face "Hey, it wasn't as bad as the time we accidentally drank from that sake box that made us act like onis." "…It took me at least a month to repair the food cart after I recovered from having my emotions affected by the menreiki. So many wasted business opportunities…" Mystia's sorrow resounded in the night as she said that last part, which in turn made Kokoro understandably feel guilt.

The young menreiki bows her head and says with polite honesty "I am sorry if my actions caused harm to your business, Mystia Lorelei." The bird Youkai glances over her left shoulder in a subtly surprised manner, and that combined with the innocent grin on Kyouko's face caused Mystia to sigh and state as she turns to look back at her guitar "An apology is a start, I guess…" "Hehe, Mystia isn't a bad person Kokoro, she just gets easily frustrated about a lot of things." Kyouko explains.

Mystia's ears then perk up, and she proves her friend's point by glaring at her with wide and furious eyes while stating "Should you really be telling her that sort of stuff, Kyouko?!" The yamabiko flinches a bit and lets out an awkward chuckle while taking a cautious step back, and Kokoro glances at the bird-like Youkai before mentioning "I can sort of see why mommy considers you a delinquent."

Turning all the way around to glare at the menreiki, Mystia strums her guitar once while madly stating "I am NOT a delinquent! The two of us ain't causing trouble for no one with our music! …Wait a second, you have a mother?" Her anger calms down and is replaced with intrigue, and after a couple blinks of her eyelids Mystia sees Kokoro tilt her head as she says "Is that hard to believe? Do Youkai not have mothers and fathers?"

"I-I can't say that's true for all Youkai, especially not Tsukumogamis like you. So who is your mother? Is it the person that created you?" Mystia inquires, and Kyouko takes charge of the situation by quickly stating "It really doesn't matter, does it Mys-" "Byakuren is my mommy." Kokoro answers without realizing the implication of her words, though as Kyouko slaps her forehead upon seeing Mystia's contort in shock she finds herself regretting not mentioning that to the menreiki sooner.

"Y-You don't mean the Byakuren that runs that temple, r-r-right?" Mystia asks with her body quivering in fright, and Kokoro nods her head without first reading the mood correctly. The bird-like Youkai then feels a cold chill down her spine as she recalls the only time she ever met Byakuren, where the lady gave her a very unnatural glare from an otherwise tranquil expression. Everything after that was but a sealed away memory for Mystia, and she slowly creaked her head to look at Kyouko before asking "W-Why did you bring her daughter to our concert?"

"Well technically, it's her adopted-" "Just answer the question Kyouko." The yamabiko's attempt to dodge the question with talk of semantics just earned her a narrow glare from Mystia, but instead of Kyouko taking care of this task Kokoro placed one hand on her chest and mentioned to the bird-like Youkai "Please do not be mad at your friend. I wished to come because I was curious to hear your music for myself. I promise you, I will not tell mommy about this."

"…Seriously? Hehehe, I guess you have a budding rebellious side, dontcha?" Mystia remarks as her body eases up on the shaking, with a smirk forming at the end of her sentence that makes Kokoro tilt her head and dryly state "No." "…Oh." The bird-like Youkai mutters out, followed up by her raising one hand up away from her guitar and asking "So umm…Why do you want to listen to our music exactly? From what I heard, you're more of a dancer than a musician."

"I have my own reasons. But I am surprised by the lack of a crowd…Aren't you supposed to be really famous amongst the other Youkai?" Kokoro inquires, and with a creeping grin across her face Mystia explains "Hehehe. The nocturnal Youkai of Gensokyo don't follow a set schedule to come see us. Instead, we guide them here with our music. That is the nature of Choujuu Gigaku! Are you ready to rock, Kyouko?!" Mystia raises one hand into the air to prepare for a particularly powerful guitar strum, and the yamabiko cups one hand around her mouth and proclaims with all of his vocal strength "Let's do this Mystia!"

Kokoro felt overwhelmed by the duo's enthusiasm, her heart in particular starting to skip a couple beats as Kyouko's voice echoed in her ears. Before Mystia strum down on the guitar, she made sure to warn the menreiki "By the way, you might want to be careful. Who knows if you won't get swept up in the crowd of roaring fans that come to watch us!" She then strums on the guitar, sending a wild and powerful note echoing throughout the night sky with the help of Kyouko's powers.

Kokoro waits for the sound of the song to come to an end before she says to Kyouko "So…How long does these concerts usually last for?" The menreiki had her surprised mask beside her face until the yamabiko turned to look at her and responded enthusiastically with "We usual show off one new song and one old song! But tonight we have some special guests playing after us, so stick around and hear them out as well, Kokoro!"

Kyouko and Mystia then had to make a couple final preparations for the concert, with the yamabiko putting the lyrics away in her clothes while Mystia made one quick adjustment to the strings on her guitar. Kokoro backed away slightly, but immediately bumped into the front of the first of many Youkai to arrive on the scene of the concert. Thankfully for her, she just ran into one of the pink, ruffled shirt rabbits from the Eientei forests, and an immediate apology was all it took for her to not get in trouble.

Kokoro then decided to stay completely still at the front of the growing crowd, making certain not to get in the way of anyone's line of sight. Her politeness and calm nature contrasted with the vast majority of the crowd, which were in an excited uproar over the fact that Choujuu Gigaku was about to begin again. The menreiki scanned the crowd for a few seconds, and found that almost every type of Youkai had gathered here to listen. There were rabbits, fairies, a couple tengu, a few Kappa, and even a single oni.

Other unique individuals included the green-haired night bug Wriggle, the supposedly lunatic ivory-haired rabbit Reisen, and Kokoro could've sworn she even saw the current Child of Maire Hieda no Akyuu standing inconspicuously between a couple Youkai. But even with all of these eyes and personalities anticipating the sound of this "punk of rock" music, Kyouko looked absolutely confident in herself as she stood beside her friend, something that completely surprised Kokoro considering how awkward the yamabiko usually looked otherwise.

"Are you ready to rock?!" Kyouko exclaimed, using her powers to amplify the sound of her voice without straining her throat in the process. The crowd of Youkai erupted into a magnificent combination of roars and applause, and that was the cue Choujuu Gigaku needed to begin their concert. With Mystia strumming at the guitar, Kyouko began to sing the song she wrote for tonight, her opening notes alone fueling the crowd's cheers to staggering degrees.

Being her first concert and all, Kokoro felt very overwhelmed to be there, with her body twitching a bit in nervous fright as she laid one hand against her beating chest and tried to take in some steady breaths to calm herself down. But while the song she heard was very powerful and very loud, Kokoro felt herself being lured towards the nature of it that lied beyond the mere beats and lyrics echoing throughout the night sky.

After she spent sufficient time trying to relax herself, Kokoro looked directly above Kyouko and happened to notice something that she would soon determine no one else could see. A vibe was being projected from Kyouko's body as she sung so intensely, and this very vibe took the form of an aura that resembled the spiritual flames surrounding Kokoro's own masks. This piqued the menreiki's interest immensely, and as the mask expressing curiosity appeared beside her face Kokoro looked intently at the vibes while continuing to listen to the song unfold.

The vibes coming from Kyouko started off rather thin and compressed looking, suggesting that the young yamabiko was feeling some bit of stress. But the vibes then expanded outward and seemed vibrant around the edge, showing that Kyouko was feeling incredibly happy and relieved with every part of the song that she sung. Recalling what Kyouko had mentioned at the temple that got her so intrigued in coming to this concert in the first place, Kokoro thinks to herself amongst the torrent of loud noise _"So music is filled with emotions…"_

Rubbing the bottom of her chin, Kokoro then remarks "I see now Kyouko…You play this music with Mystia to relieve your stress…But just what exactly are you stressed out about?" As the menreiki thinks about this, she comes to realize that the yamabiko might have a little more depth to her than just being the "cheerful sweeping Youkai of the Myouren Temple". "Another day, perhaps, you can open up to me about what's troubling you, Kyouko…" Kokoro remarks while closing her eyelids in deep thought.

By the time Kokoro goes back to actually focusing on the music, she finds that the first song had come to an end. It had barely been over three minutes since they began, but everyone seemed to enjoy the song regardless of how short it was. Kyouko then looks out towards the crowd and proclaims "We'll be moving on to our next song after a brief intermission!"

As the crowd quiets down a little bit and starts murmuring amongst each other, Kyouko breaks off from Mystia, who was in the middle of adjusting her guitar for the next song, and ran over to Kokoro with her chipper demeanor returned to her as she stopped a couple feet away from her and lowered her sunglasses to look at the menreiki. "So? What did you think?!" Kyouko was incredibly enthusiastic to hear the criticism of her friend, and Kokoro obliged her request by making her joyous mask appear as she remarks "Your song was very interesting. I could feel the emotions in your voice as you spoke. I have to ask though…Do those vibes usually come off of your body when you play?"

Kyouko pulls back on her body and blinks in surprise, and with a tilt of her head she says "Vibes? …Oh! I think only you'd be able to see something like that Kokoro. Heheh, everyone else here just enjoys the loud noise and lyrics. N-Not that it's a bad thing mind you! If you have your own unique spin on our music, then that just means you can enjoy it in your own way!" Kokoro then states out of curiosity "So what will be your next song?"

Kyouko winks and gives the menreiki a sly smile before adjusting her sunglasses back into place and replying "You'll see~" She then turned around and went back to Mystia to get ready for the next song of the night, with Kokoro anticipating it at the edge of the crowd. "Song number two is about to begin! Are you all ready?!" Kyouko exclaims with the utmost confidence in her voice, and with everyone's attention focusing on those two they let out a cheerful roar and applause, allowing the two to begin their next song.

This song started off a little slower than the last, with Mystia strumming a quiet melody on her guitar before the lyrics kicked in from her this time around, with Kyouko using her powers to amplify the sound of her voice so everyone can hear. Then the "rock" elements of the music came into effect, mixing into the melancholic vibes of the lyrics so beautifully that it didn't sound at all unnatural.

"…_A melancholy rock song? I wonder who came up with this one? Could it be Mystia, considering Kyouko did the last one?" _As Kokoro inquired this inside of her mind, she noticed that the emotional vibes came off of both members of Choujuu Gigaku because of Kyouko's powers, so it was impossible to figure out who was feeling melancholy via this song. "I should have been paying attention sooner…" Kokoro remarks, but that was a mistake that couldn't be fixed now.

Putting more effort into paying attention to the song this time around, Kokoro listened to it all the way through, and she found herself clapping slowly as a means of praising the band, though her quiet clap was easily drowned out by the roars of the various Youkai around her. "Thank you, thank you! We're always glad to have you come around and listen to us!" Kyouko proclaims in a very appreciative tone of voice.

Mystia then steps forth and says "We shall now pass on the baton to another band for the night. Coming here tonight to perform for all of you are the famous Prismriver Sisters! This will be the last song in the concert, so our part is through, but I hope you enjoy the next act as much as you did ours!" Kokoro tilted her head in surprise upon hearing the name of the guests that the two had invited. From what she knew, the Prismriver Sisters were a more laid-back type of music group, so this made the menreiki think to herself _"Wonder why they'd play after a punk of the rock type of music band?*"_

(*Are you also confused about this turn of events? Read Gensokyo One-Shots Story 1 to find out how the Prismriver Sisters and Choujuu Gigaku met!)

(** "Hey! You can't do this type of thing! It's a fan fiction, not a freaking comic book!")

(* SHUT UP I'M A FLOATING ASTERISK I CAN DO WHAT I WANT)

…Aaaaanyways, as Kokoro ponders about this question to herself, Kyouko and Mystia start to back away from the center of the forest while three similarly dressed sisters approach where they once were, each one carrying a different instrument that they use to play music with in unison. As the passing of the musical baton occurred, Kokoro caught a glimpse of someone rather out-of-place behind where Kyouko was. It was a red-haired, human-like person wearing a warm leather black jacket and slick white pants. The girl seemed to notice Kokoro as well, as the moment their eyes met she gave her a calm smile, which puzzled Kokoro greatly.

Though something seemed familiar about this mysterious girl, Kokoro would not be able to find out more at the moment as the Prismriver Sisters took center stage and drew their musical instruments out from the ether all ready to play. Kokoro glanced around, and found that Choujuu Gigaku was now standing at the front of the eastern side of the crowd ready to listen in on the musical performance. While there was still an applause over the Prismriver Sisters, it was a little more calm compared to the uproar given to Kyouko and Mystia.

Then the Prismrivers began to play without introducing themselves, with their music being very relaxed and melodic, a sharp contrast to the "punk of the rock" music that Kokoro had to listen to twice before. As this music played, the Prismrivers looked focused and natural in their performance, making certain not to miss a single beat or key. There were no lyrics, but Kokoro felt that adding those in would ruin the nostalgic and peaceful vibe coming from the music.

Going from two "punk of the rock" songs to this relaxing melody felt right to Kokoro, but the peaceful song the Prismriver Sisters played wasn't her favorite of the three songs. And it wasn't because of bias due to knowing Kyouko. A peaceful song just didn't resonate with her, which is rather ironic considering something like this would work perfectly with one of her Noh plays. "…I like that 'punk of the rock' music…Does that make me a delinquent?"

Deciding that she would have to keep her love of this music a secret from her mother for the rest of her life, Kokoro listens to the rest of the song in full as she had the one before. When it was over, the Youkai in the area gave the Prismrivers a slow and calm applause via their claps, which was a good enough show of praise for the three instrument poltergeists. The three bowed their heads, and then proceeded to depart back into the crowd. Kyouko and Mystia then took center stage once more, with the yamabiko raising her hand high while proclaiming to the crowd "Thank you for coming tonight everyone! I hope you enjoyed our guests, and we look forward to seeing you all again!"

With the concert of Choujuu Gigaku and the Prismrivers at an end, the many Youkai that had gathered here today began to leave, save for Kokoro, who stuck around because she had a couple things to say to Kyouko and Mystia. The two members of Choujuu Gigaku walked over to her, with Mystia swinging her guitar over her shoulders to keep it in place for the moment. Kyouko held her hands together and said in a very appreciative tone "Thank you for sticking through to the end, Kokoro. I honestly didn't think you'd like this kind of music."

Kokoro places one hand against her chest while saying to the young yamabiko "It's like you said…I am able to enjoy your music because I have my own way of looking at it. Seeing things from an emotional viewpoint along with a musical one adds depth to each song that was played. I look forward to seeing you two play again." Kyouko let out an innocent cheer, while Mystia raised her eyebrows in surprise towards the menreiki's critique.

"Well, I'll let you know whenever the next concert is, Kokoro. But we obviously can't mention this around Lady Byakuren, so just remember that, ok?" Kyouko kindly asks of the menreiki to not mention anything, and with a nod of her head Kokoro replies "I promise not to say anything. This will be our secret." "Thank you so much. So am I going to see you again tomorrow, Kokoro?" Kyouko inquires.

"…Well, since Mamizou-san is at the temple, I might just go and visit her tomorrow." Kokoro remarks, and Kyouko says "In that case, I shall see you in the morning! I have to change my clothes now and give Mystia the band ones since I can't hide them at the temple, so we're going to head to her place next. I hope you make it back home safely, Kokoro." The yamabiko then backs off a bit, allowing Kokoro and Mystia to look at each other for a bit.

After a moment of awkwardness from the bird-like Youkai, Kokoro says to her honestly "I hope I can make things up to you sometime, Mystia." Mystia glances away from her and says in a sharp-tone "Oh just forget about that already. Just stay out of trouble around me and I won't press the issue further. Come on Kyouko, let's get out of here…" Kyouko and Mystia then start to depart from this part of the forest, but before they were gone all the way Mystia glanced over her shoulder for a moment and remarked "Hey, catch you around our concerts again sometime, Kokoro."

That remark was enough to bring an uplifting feeling to the young menreiki, whose mask of joy appeared beside her as she placed one hand on her chest and felt rather good about herself. Kokoro would've been content to just go home and rest for the night after that, but there was still one more matter that the menreiki would have to deal with before she could do so. As she turned to the right, she once again saw that red-haired lady from before. She had the same expression on her face as before, and Kokoro wondered why that person was still around.

The lady lays one hand against her chin and speaks for the first time, using a rather laid-back, mature tone as she said "I knew I recognized you. You're the famous Noh Player of the Human Village, Hata no Kokoro." Kokoro tilts her head, and then goes on to say "Have we met before?" The red-haired lady lifts her eyebrows up and remarks in a nonchalant manner "I suppose you probably haven't met me before. I have heard of you though. You have quite the reputation built-up."

The person then extends her hand out and says with a smile "Sorry, I am being quite rude here. My name is Raiko Horikawa, the Phantasmal Percussionist. Is it alright if I approach you?" Kokoro was unfamiliar with the person who called herself Raiko even after she gave her name, but at the same time there's something familiar about what she was. She looked like a human…But so do a lot of Youkai, truth be told. Curious to know more about Raiko, Kokoro asked of her "Is there something you want from me?"

"Just a conversation, unless you do not have the time to spare." Raiko replies with a smile on her face, and then she proceeds to walk over to the menreiki. She was a tiny bit taller than the young Youkai, so Kokoro had to look up at her a bit. She also seemed to have some curves to her figure, though that could just be her striped shirt accentuating those features. "So let me guess…You heard about me because of those incidents I caused…" Kokoro says, starting off the conversation by hanging her head and mentioning her infamy.

Gesturing her right hand out, Raiko states "Can't say I learned of you because of those. No, the first time I saw you was during one of your Noh Plays in the Human Village." "Oh, so you're a fan?" Kokoro's head perks up and her mask becomes the one of joy, and Raiko mentions while laying one hand on her chin "Hmmm, well, I will say that I did like the play even though it was a one-time thing."

"So that's a yes?" Kokoro inquires, and Raiko nods her head after drawing her hands away and putting them in the pockets of her jacket. "This has been bothering me since I briefly saw you earlier…What type of Youkai are you?" Kokoro asks while rubbing her own chin. Raiko gets a chuckle from this inquiry, but nevertheless remarks in response "So you can tell that I am a Youkai but not what type I am. Before I answer you, do you have any suspicions of what I might be?"

"…You…feel familiar…Are you also a tsukumogami?" Kokoro had to think about her response for a few seconds as she looked over Raiko's body a couple times. Raiko claps her hands twice proudly and says "I would've worried if you weren't able to recognize a fellow Tsukumogami." "…What threw me off was that you don't have your object beside you, like me and my masks." Kokoro remarks while pointing one finger at her floating mask.

Raiko then raises her eyebrows slightly and remarks calmly "Ah, that does make some degree of sense. Would you like to know what type of tsukumogami I am?" Kokoro's youthful curiosity influenced her decision to nod her head, and as the lady tsukumogami starts to step backwards she masterfully draws her hands from her jacket, pulling out a couple of drum sticks while she uses her ability to fly to pretend that she was climbing an invisible staircase. This "staircase" led to a large red drum decorated with white floral patterns that she summoned from thin air, and once atop it she sat down and laid her legs across the left side of the instrument, revealing a couple of drum mallets attached to the back of her shoes. Finally, a ring of hexagonal crimson drum pads are summoned around her body as she gets comfortable atop the main drum.

"Ooooh." Kokoro stoically expressed her awe, and Raiko said to her in turn "I'm glad I'm giving a good first impression here. Are you familiar with what a drum is, Hata no Kokoro?" She twirled her drumsticks around in her hands while asking this question, and while tapping the bottom of her chin Kokoro replied "Drums are instruments that you beat with sticks to make music, right?"

"Not a bad assessment…" Raiko says with praise before she sits herself upright and uses the drum pads around her body to play a few calm beats with her sticks. The noise sounded beautiful to Kokoro, and she remarks to the drum tsukumogami afterwards "So are you part of a band like Kyouko and Mystia?" "I am acquainted with the two…But I do not have a band, like they do. Though if I introduced you to my family, you'd be right to assume otherwise." Raiko responds rather merrily.

"You…You also have a family?" Kokoro says, surprised to know that she wasn't the only tsukumogami with an adopted family. "Mmm-hmm…We are a family of three tsukumogamis, all of us born from a different instrument. We have but one purpose in our life…" Raiko, in the middle of answering Kokoro's question, beats on her drum pads once more, projecting off a soothing melody of beats without even looking at her hands as she moves the stick up and down in a perfect rhythm.

She then raises her arms to the air and lifts her head up to look at the night sky with a smile before she finishes her sentence off with "…To allow both ourselves and other tsukumogami the chance to experience the beauty of freedom in this magnificent land of Gensokyo." "Oh, I get it now. So you wished to seek me out to try and make me a part of your family, yes?" Kokoro remarks after hearing Raiko's purpose in life revealed. The fellow tsukumogami lowers her head and twirls her right drumstick around before saying without hesitation "I suppose you could say that. But it sounds like you already have a family to call your own, and that is how you've chosen to be free in this world."

"Yes. Byakuren and Miko are my mommy and daddy, and I love them very much. Then there's Grandma Mamizou-san, Kyouko, Ichirin, Nue, Murasa, Shou…And my older sister, Tenshi." The last name in particular surprised Raiko, as she said to Kokoro while rubbing her chin with the palm of her left hand "So the Celestial you defeated became like an older sister to you? Heheh, and the famed tanuki Mamizou is your grandmother. I must say, you have quite the interesting family, but it seems to be working out for you."

"Mmm-hmm…" Kokoro remarks while nodding her head. Raiko then uses the sticks on her shoes to bang her big drum once before she leaps off it and sends it off for the moment. She then places her hands back in her jacket while walking over to the menreiki and mentioning "I should let you know, however, that if things ever get too chaotic for you and you can't turn to anyone in your family for whatever reason…" Once Raiko stood close to Kokoro, she placed one hand on her right shoulder respectfully and finished saying "…I will help you out, if that is what you choose to do."

The earnest and warm smile on Raiko's face showed Kokoro that she could trust her, but her heart beat rather awkwardly due to the feel of Raiko's hand on her shoulder. The drum tsukumogami pulls her hand away and says "Sorry, I didn't mean to get too personal there. But I do hope you consider my offer, at the very least." Raiko then glances down at Kokoro for a moment, and with a curious and somewhat concerned raise of her eyebrows she remarks "By the way…Are you feeling cold? I mean, you don't appear to be wearing any pants behind that skirt."

"Hmmm? I am perfectly warm. Besides, is it really weird not to wear pants?" Kokoro's question caused Raiko to start laughing quietly to herself, and afterwards she turns around and starts to head off while saying "You are truly a free tsukumogami, Hata no Kokoro. I bid you farewell for now. Perhaps we will see each other again sometime soon." Before she flew off though, Raiko paused in place and glanced over her right shoulder while saying "By the way, considering your connection to the Myouren Temple…Might I suggest visiting the graveyard sometime? You might be _surprised_ by what you find there."

Raiko then flew into the night skies, and Kokoro took her words to heart as she murmured to herself "The temple graveyard…Hmm, I've never actually visited that place, now that I think about it." It was definitely something she'd have to do tomorrow when she went to the temple. Now, with her meeting with Raiko done and over with, along with everything else she had gone through the day, Kokoro felt perfectly content to just head on back to the Human Village and rest up for the night…

The menreiki rose up out of the forest and flew straight back to the Human Village, her mask of joy appearing beside her as he traveled through the night sky. Once back at the village, she went to the edge of the place and laid down on the ground, comforting herself with the heat of her own body brought on by the happiness of a good day as she closed her eyelids, hoping that tomorrow would be just as good as today…

_Next Time: The Mask Meets The Trash_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Youkai That's Better Off in the Trash**

The next day comes around rather quickly for Kokoro, especially due to how easily she was able to fall asleep during the night. She wakes up under the shade of a tree at the edge of the Human Village, the sun bright and warm above in the clear blue sky. Upon awaking, Kokoro stretches her arms above her head while she still rests on the ground, letting out a stoic yawn as her mask of joy appears beside her face. She then lifts her head up off of the grass, looking over herself with her glazed, tired eyes to make sure that hadn't been touched by anyone else while sleep.

Her clothes were intact, and there were no marks on her skin besides the dirt on her elbows. Smacking her lips before letting out another yawn, Kokoro thinks to herself _"That was a good night's sleep…" _Before she can remark on the morning atmosphere, the menreiki feels her stomach rumble, and she slowly lowers one hand onto the front of her gut while saying "It seems that I am hungry…Come to think about it, I didn't eat anything at all after those treats at Flandre's place…"

Kokoro then tries to rise to her feet, but didn't account for how tired she still was as she ends up losing her balance and collapsing back onto her back. Her head slightly impacts with the ground, making her flinch in pain, which has the added effect of waking her up enough to blink a few times and remark in a somewhat bothered tone "Hmm…This isn't a good omen for today." She then uses her now forcibly awakened mind to get back onto her feet, proving successful this time around.

Afterwards, the menreiki looks at her elbows and says "…I should go clean these up." She then turned towards the Human Village, noticing that there were some people moving around this early in the morning. Kokoro had no hesitation on her mind as she walked towards the village, specifically choosing to make her way for the well on the other end of town so she can use clean water to clean off her dirty elbows.

As she moved through the village, she took a look at the people around her. There were mostly adults moving around in their standard, low-class clothing, but a couple children could be seen happily chasing each other through the village all full of energy. Those two children run right by Kokoro, with one of them waving their right hand out and proclaiming "Hi Kokoro!" Before they continue to focus on their playtime.

The menreiki takes pause after that one child greets her, her mask of awkwardness showing up for a moment as she remarks to herself "I-I'm glad to see the kids are full of energy this morning." Kokoro then continues to advance through the village, all the while thinking about how weird it felt, even now, to receive greetings from humans. After all, Youkai are supposed to be loathed and feared for being so different from humans, especially when it comes to power.

Kokoro especially felt that she didn't deserve to be allowed inside of the Human Village after the two incidents she caused, even if her adopted father covered for her on the second one. The menreiki just assumed, however, that part of the reason the humans liked having her around was because she did what few other Youkai do and that is not even CONSIDER eating human flesh. Naturally, that made her an anomaly amongst Youkai, but Kokoro didn't particularly have any interest in hanging out with the brutes and beasts of the night.

Of course, that type of thinking led to her remembering her recent visits with Flandre, especially considering that the vampire delighted in nibbling on pastries that blatantly contained chopped up pieces of human flesh. "If only I could convince her to eat other foods, her only problem would be her occasional bits of insanity…" The way Kokoro spoke, it sounded as though she wanted Flandre to be her friend, and with a momentary pause to look towards the sky and a curious intent in her heart the menreiki said quietly "Surely a vampire doesn't require human flesh to survive…"

Rubbing the bottom of her chin after she lowered her head, Kokoro says "Perhaps Mamizou-san could tell me later…" The menreiki then continued to walk through the human village, finding that she was only halfway to the well due to how slow she was pacing herself today. While walking, Kokoro thought more about the humans' tolerance of her, and thought to herself _"Human flesh…How could anyone like the taste of that?" _

But the menreiki, understandably maintaining some degree of naivety, didn't consider the viewpoint of the Youkai who enjoy eating human flesh as she thought that, but it's also why she didn't linger long on the issue as she shook her head and remarks "The other reason the humans like me is probably because of my Noh plays…I did notice I usually got a big crowd from each play until near the end."

"…I think I'm thinking too much about this." Kokoro realizes, and with her hands lowered beside her body she reaches the conclusion that she was just being a little too self-conscious about how the humans should be perceiving her after the incidents she caused. But at least these thoughts proved to be a good distraction for her as she ended up in front of the well by the time she was done.

The well was pretty full today, and by using the tethered bucket Kokoro is able to get a sufficient amount of water up to the top. She then cups the water with one hand and washes her elbows off with them, which thankfully doesn't take her very long. After this cleaning was out of the way, Kokoro still had to worry about her hunger. Thankfully, if there's one thing the menreiki appreciated about Gensokyo, is that when you need to take care of something, you'll usually get a convenient answer to your problems.

As such, Kokoro turned herself around expecting to find some way for her to get food, but throughout the village there didn't appear to be anything like a 'free buffet' or a 'first customer gets a free item' deal at a store. "…Hmm, that usually works." Kokoro remarks as she tilts her head in a puzzled manner, followed by her saying "Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to force a lucky situation."

Her stomach grumbles again, but this time around as she rubs it someone speaks out to her. "You famished today, Kokoro?" The menreiki looks up and to the right, and finds an adult male stopping beside her. The human was sweating a bit as he carried a basket filled with a large amount of apples in his arms. Kokoro had met this human a few times before, every time he would be carrying a bountiful amount of fruit in a basket that he got from his plantation not far out from the village.

But (for the convenience of not having to come up with his face design), Kokoro has never once seen his face, since it was always covered by his stack of fruit. The menreiki said to him "Yes" and the human did his best to wrap one arm around the basket as he briefly plucked an apple from his stack and tossed it at Kokoro. The menreiki grabbed it by raising her right hand into the air, and the man quickly put his other back around the basket before the weight becomes too much for the other to bear.

"Consider that my thanks for making my kids happy with your Noh plays. If you ever need a bit of fruit to help you out, just let me know. Spring's going to offer a good crop this year if this first basket is any indication. Blessed be the goddess of spring!" The man was in good spirits as he carried on through the village after thanking Kokoro for her plays. The menreiki, blinking a couple times in surprise, then took a bite of the red apple and found that it was quite sweet tasting, but not in a bad way.

"…Wish I knew that guy's name so I could've thanked him properly." Kokoro remarks between bites. She then found that her hunger was starting to be satiated for the time being, and with that taken into consideration along with her appreciation towards that man for giving her fruit the menreiki decided that now would be a good time to head off for the Myouren Temple. While continuing to eat the fruit, Kokoro lifts off from the ground and takes flight to the temple, which wasn't all too far from the village.

After gobbling down the apple, Kokoro casually tosses the pit over her shoulder and then focuses on the sky ahead, this time keeping her thoughts in check so she didn't pass the temple like she did the SDM the day before. It didn't take her very long to get there, and once she did she dropped down in front of the entrance at the center of the outer wall like before. This time, however, when she went through the entrance she was quite surprised to find that Kyouko wasn't out sweeping the grounds.

But that curiosity was swept away from her when she saw another familiar face walking across the grounds. It was Mamizou, who seemed to be enjoying a nice stroll by herself across the grounds. The tanuki, still having her human disguise on, turned to the left and noticed Kokoro, and a small smile appeared across her face before she remarked "Good morning, Kokoro." The tanuki then extended her right hand out of her sleeve and said in a goofy tone "How about you give ol' granny a hug?"

The menreiki wasn't at all hesitant to run over to Mamizou and leap up at her with extended arms, and the two shared a warm embrace for a few seconds as the force of Kokoro's leap pushed the tanuki back a couple inches. Kokoro's mask of joy was still out as they hugged, and Mamizou rubs the top of the menreiki's head while saying to her "You seem to be in high spirits. Did you have a good time yesterday?"

"Mmm-hmm…" Kokoro says in response, and the two then part away from their hug that allows the menreiki to land back on the ground. Mamizou then folds her arms back into her sleeves and gives a mischievous grin while remarking quietly "Did you enjoy listening to Choujuu Gigaku?" "Ummm…" Kokoro was caught off-guard by this comment, and her nervousness manifested in the form of a blush as she didn't want to admit that she liked that music.

Mamizou, however, seems to have interpreted the blush differently and remarked in a gentle tone "Don't worry, I'm keeping Kyouko's trip out last night a secret as well. Your mother won't hear a peep out of either of us." The tanuki places one finger up in front of her lips as she says that last part, and Kokoro looks up and feels herself relaxing right away. Mamizou then chuckles and remarks "Also, I can tell that you've become a fan of their music."

"Eep!" Kokoro squeaks out as she quickly summons forth a mask and places it in front of her face to hide embarrassment, much to the bewilderment of Mamizou, who raised an eyebrow and said "Kokoro, I'm not going to judge you for liking that type of music, you should know me better than that." Kokoro then pulls her mask away slightly and says quietly "R-Really?" "…It bothers me more that you have to ask that." Mamizou says, though her nonchalant tone contradicted her supposed concern.

The menreiki then lets go of the mask all the way and lets is float back out beside her, and Mamizou then proceeds to say to her "Of course, that's not to say I'm a fan of the music myself, but as someone who'd rather listen to just plain ol' taiko drums or a harmonica I don't think I have the right to judge others' musical tastes." This is then wrapped up by the tanuki giving a warm smile with her eyelids closed, and Kokoro says to her afterwards "Taiko drums?"

This remark caused Kokoro to flinch in shock as she recalled what Raiko said to her the night before about checking the graveyard for a surprise. But because she brought up the matter of drums, Mamizou raised one hand up and explained to Kokoro "Yes. Back when I lived in the outside world, I would occasionally attend festivals where taiko drums were used for celebration. The sounds they made stuck out to me more than any other instruments that were played. Come to think about it, I heard there was a tsukumogami that used to be a taiko drum. Perhaps I should seek her out sometime and let this old heart of mine experience some nostalgia."

"Ummm…" Kokoro was a bit dumbstruck by Mamizou's sudden explanation due to a lack of realization on her part, but the tanuki didn't make things any tougher on the menreiki as she waved her right hand down and stated "Oh don't mind the ramblings of an old tanuki. So what are your plans for today?" Mamizou then puts her arms back into her sleeves, leaving Kokoro a chance to tap her chin and glance up towards the sky while saying "Well…I have to visit the mansion again today, but otherwise my only other plan was to go check out the graveyard here."

"The graveyard? I'm surprised you haven't gone there before now." Mamizou remarks, signifying that she seemed to know something about it like Raiko did…Which to Kokoro, wasn't that surprising. The menreiki tilted her head and asked "What's in the graveyard?" And the tanuki slyly replied "I'll leave that to you to find out. But since you have some time to spare for the moment, how about we find your mother and have some tea together?"

"Sure, Mamizou-san." Kokoro says with a respectful bow of her head, and the two then go for the temple entrance to try and find Byakuren. They enter through the front doors, but as they traverse the hallways in search of her Kokoro reluctantly chooses to say "M-Mamizou-san…There's something I want to ask you." "What is it, Kokoro?" The tanuki replies without taking pause or glancing over her shoulders.

Kokoro was about to ask about whether vampires required human flesh to survive or not, but what stopped her from doing so was the thought that Mamizou would easily figure out her intentions and consider her idea too dangerous to attempt. So instead, the menreiki quickly whipped up another question for the tanuki to answer. "How many tsukumogamis are in Gensokyo besides me?" She said while looking slightly to the right nervously.

Mamizou raised her eyebrows unbeknownst to Kokoro and remarked "I can't say I know a definitive number. But from my understanding I've heard of five others besides you. Are you interested in meeting some of them?" Reminded of how nice Raiko was to talk to, Kokoro was able to reply by saying "Someday, sure." "Heheh, a meeting with one may happen sooner than you think, Kokoro." Mamizou says cryptically.

Before Kokoro can press her on that remark, the two are all of a sudden greeted by Kyouko, who ran around a corner in a panic and rammed right into the front of Mamizou's body. But the tanuki, being stern as she was, stood motionless in place while the poor yamabiko ends up rebounding onto her back. Kokoro glances past Mamizou's right side while the tanuki extends a hand out and remarks "You should be a little more attentive there, young Kyouko."

Kyouko, after rubbing the back of her head a bit, lifts herself up and accepts Mamizou's help in getting up. But the very moment she gets on her feet she widens her eyes and notices Kokoro's presence, stating to her specifically "Kokoro, thank goodness I found you first!" "Hmm? What's up Kyouko?" Kokoro asks as she steps beside Mamizou to get better eye contact with the yamabiko. Kyouko glances back the way she came and stares down that hallway for a few seconds while remarking "You need to get out of here quickly! Lady Byakuren's looking for you and I don't think she's in a good mood now."

Kokoro and Mamizou both understandably were shocked to hear Kyouko say the words "Byakuren" and "not in a good mood" in the same sentence. It was the rarest sentence you could ever hear in Gensokyo, just right behind "Reimu said something nice to me". However, without context, the menreiki didn't exactly know why she should avoid her own mother. "Kyouko, you have to be a little more specific. Why is Byakuren looking for Kokoro?" Mamizou asks.

"Don't tell me she found out I went to see your band last night…" Kokoro theorizes, but Kyouko shakes her head and remarks quietly "No, but don't say anything like that to her." The yamabiko then raised her voice slightly and explained "I overheard Lady Byakuren and Ichirin talking this morning and well…Remember when you mentioned that Celestial around her? Well, I hate to say it, but Ichirin and I both agreed that you were probably still seeing her even after that incident…However, I was never going to say anything to Lady Byakuren, I swear."

Kyouko looked honest as she spoke to the menreiki, and Kokoro couldn't be mad at her as she murmured out "I-I believe you. I can't be mad at Ichirin either, she was just doing what she thought was right…" The menreiki then sunk her head slightly, regretting the fact that her secret friendship/sisterly relationship was now revealed to her adopted mother and that she was going to have to deal with the consequences of said reveal pretty soon.

"Kokoro, I just have to ask…Is there any chance we misinterpreted what you said?" Kyouko inquires in a concerned manner, and the menreiki shakes her head while explaining quietly "I'm sorry Kyouko, I am still seeing Tenshi…But I swear I have a good reason for doing so." "I hope you do Kokoro, because I have never seen Lady Byakuren look so disappointed." Kyouko remarks while twirling her fingers around in front of her chest.

A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard approaching from the hallway Kyouko just went down, and both Kokoro and Kyouko freeze up with their hearts beating fast moments later. Mamizou remained in place and looked on for a bit with a neutral expression, and it wasn't long until Byakuren walked around the corner behind Kyouko while wearing the clothes she had on yesterday. Her expression was firm and unlike her usual self, as she cast a glare upon Kyouko that caused the yamabiko to shiver.

Byakuren then looked at Mamizou while folding her arms in front of her waist, saying to her in a tough but quiet tone "Mamizou, take Kyouko elsewhere. I do not want you two anywhere near me and my adopted daughter for the moment." Kyouko lets out a sigh of relief once Byakuren removed her gaze from her, and she has no hesitation on her mind as she runs behind the tanuki for safety, all the while quickly whispering to Kokoro "I'm sorry…"

Before she honored Byakuren's request, Mamizou raised one hand up and said "As her grandmother, should I not have the right to take part in this conversation?" Byakuren lowered her eyelids until she was barely staring through the slits, after which she said to Mamizou in a very serious tone "You entrusted Kokoro's care to me and Miko. You can have your harmless fun any other time, but when it comes to matters of discipline that is our right and ours alone, Mamizou. Now, I will say this only once more…Go elsewhere."

"Very well, Byakuren." Mamizou says without any further objections, and after turning around to comfort the shivering Kyouko with a pat on the head the tanuki says "Let us go have some tea…I get the feeling we'll be waiting a while for Kokoro to join us." Kyouko whispers out 'good luck' as she is taken away from the hallway. Kokoro and Byakuren then stare at each other for a few awkward seconds, followed by Byakuren then resting one hand on the right side of her face and letting out a distressed sigh while shaking her head.

"Mommy, please let me-" Kokoro's attempt to start a conversation leads to Byakuren resting her head in place and saying to her "Kokoro, I will let you have a chance to talk…Please don't make this any harder for me to deal with. First off, are you feeling ok? Is your mind fuzzy? Are you ill?" Byakuren sounded slightly concerned for Kokoro's health, the motherly tone she took tricking the menreiki into answering "I'm feeling just fine, mommy."

The priest then folds her arms in front of her waist and says in a firm tone of voice "Then tell me…What reason would you have to still see that delinquent Celestial after all she did to you?" The fact that Byakuren did not raise her voice actually made her anger all the scarier to Kokoro, who trembled slightly before she responded honestly "Mommy, Tenshi is not that bad of a person. She's been like an older sister to me ever since the last incident ended."

"L-Like an older sister?" Byakuren stuttered in disbelief before she raised one hand in front of her chin and stated "Need I remind you that she manipulated you? That she used you as a TOOL to harm Gensokyo?" Kokoro gestures out with her right hand and says calmly "Mommy…I defeated Tenshi in battle and resolved our issues. Is it really that strange that we became genuine friends/sisters after all that?"

"Kokoro, if you had used that logic on me for almost any other person in Gensokyo, I would've considered it…But that delinquent Celestial exists only to cause havoc and harm those around her. She's only pretending to be friends with you to lower your guard again." Byakuren remarks, denying Kokoro's explanation to such an extent that it surprised the menreiki due to how cold it seemed. But Kokoro knew her mother was a reasonable sort, and even this far into their conversation the menreiki refused to give up as she placed one hand on her chest and said confidently "Mommy, I know better than to be tricked again. Don't you think I'd have stopped seeing her if I sensed something amiss?"

For a moment, Byakuren lets out a stressed sigh, but then she lowers her head and closes her eyelids while remarking "Kokoro, you're my adopted daughter…I want to trust you, I want to keep you safe from everything harmful in this world…But you kept the truth about you and that delinquent Celestial from me, so I don't know if I can believe you when you say you haven't sensed anything amiss."

"I know you care for me mommy, and I know you hate delinquents…That's why I didn't tell you sooner about Tenshi. I wanted to wait until the moment was right to have you two meet, that way you could see that she is no longer a delinquent…" Kokoro says in response, followed by Byakuren lifting her head up while looking at her adopted daughter in disbelief, after which she makes her disdain known by stating in a raised tone "Absolutely not! That Celestial will NEVER be allowed to stand even fifty feet close to this temple! Kokoro, I thought you knew better than that…"

As the disappointment can be heard in Byakuren's voice, the way she spoke about her intolerance of Tenshi made Kokoro lash out at her in anger, with her swinging her arms out as she states "And I thought you were supposed to forgive and tolerate everyone! You try to impose your religion on Youkai, but you can't even follow these rules yourself, mom!" Kokoro outburst caused her stoic tone to disappear for just a moment, and Byakuren is taken completely off-guard by how she reacted. Heck, even the menreiki was shocked at what she said, and she promptly pulled her body back while placing both of her hands over her mouth and feeling very embarrassed for herself.

Byakuren placed one hand against her chest, her heart beating painfully from the stress of this whole conversation before she remarks a moment later "…Kokoro, I am going to find your father, and the two of us are going to discuss how to handle this whole Celestial affair." This worried the menreiki, as she recalled what Mystia mentioned the night before about Byakuren punishing her for being a negative influence to Kyouko. If Byakuren attributed Kokoro's outburst towards Tenshi's influence, then the menreiki could only fear for the Celestial's safety…

"Mommy, ple-" "Enough, Kokoro." Byakuren raised her other hand up to stop the menreiki from talking as she turned her head to the side. The priest then turned the rest of the her body around, a melancholy look on her face as she went on to say to her adopted daughter "You are not to leave the temple grounds until I come back with your father. I shall tell Nue to make sure that you don't leave." Kokoro then extends one hand out and states "Mommy, I have to go to the Scarlet De-"

"This matter will be resolved quickly, Kokoro. Then you can leave to take care of your other business…But please, just listen to what I'm asking you to do this time." Byakuren then tearfully departed from the hallway without letting Kokoro say anymore, and the menreiki felt nothing but guilt for what she had said to her adopted mother. "Mommy…I'm sorry…" Kokoro could only whisper out her genuine apology now that she was all alone in the temple.

Kokoro, while hanging her head low, walked through the hallways of the Myouren Temple by herself, awaiting the moment where her mother and father would come to possibly force a punishment on Tenshi. The menreiki wanted to flee to Bhava-agra and warn Tenshi about what was coming, but figured that Nue would make things difficult for her to escape. "…Why did this have to happen?" Kokoro remarked.

The menreiki wished to figure out a perfect solution to this whole problem, but she was so young and naïve that she knew that any plan she could come up with were idealistic at best. As she thought about these ideas, she finds herself stepping outside of the temple itself and wandering into the graveyard on the eastern part of the grounds. By this point Kokoro had forgotten that she planned to come here, but nonetheless lifted her head up to look at the place as she stopped walking for a moment. There were gravestones littered about, all of them dedicated towards fallen humans AND youkai, and there was also a layer of fog across the entire atmosphere that made it slightly harder to see things.

"Hmmm…A graveyard? …Wasn't there something I was going to do here?" Kokoro remarks as she hangs her eyelids low and sighs, with vague memories of what she wanted to do crossing through her mind. Kokoro just decided to keep walking, thinking that pacing around the edge of the temple grounds would be the best way to pass the time until her adopted parents came back. But as she strolled slowly through the foggy graveyard, Kokoro was unaware that she was being followed.

A figure bathed in shadow floated behind the gravestones off to the left of the menreiki, and Kokoro was too absorbed into her own melancholy to even consider looking around and happen upon this figure. The figure twirled what appeared to be an umbrella in her hands while giggling quietly and mischievously before she ducked down and closed her umbrella enough to perfectly fit behind one of the upcoming gravestones as Kokoro stopped in place for a moment and let out another sigh.

Seeing this as the perfect chance to do what she wanted to, the figure pulls herself up from behind the gravestone and spreads her umbrella out wide while proclaiming loudly and cheerfully "SURPRISE!" Kokoro is taken off-guard by the sudden proclamation, and her heart skips a couple beats as her mask of surprise appears beside her and she quickly falls onto her back while her face freezes up into a wide-eyed look.

The figure then floats down in front of the gravestone, revealing herself to be a young female Youkai with turquoise hair, a blue-green vest and light blue skirt, and heterochromia eyes of turquoise and red. Her umbrella appeared to be sentient, as it's red eye looks around while the tongue coming from the red paint licks the side of its owner's face merrily. Once on the ground with her barefooted wooden sandals, the girl pumps her fist into the air and proclaims proudly "Yes! I successfully scared a human! This day can't get any better than that!"

However, as the girl twirls her umbrella around and smiles while humming a victorious tune, she glances down and watches as her unlucky victim starts to slowly lift her head up off the ground with her expression changing back to a melancholy one as she lets out a sigh. The figure tilts her head at this, and then happens to notice the glowing mask beside her face that changed back to show melancholy not long afterwards. Swiftly looking dejected, the girl hangs her head very low and states "Oh…You aren't a human…You're a youkai…"

The girl then joins the menreiki in sighing, but hers is more pronounced and bothered sounding due to being able to show more emotions. As Kokoro rises to her feet, she stops worrying about her own problems for a moment to turn her head and glance at the umbrella holding girl, who promptly lifts her head back up and falls back to lean against the side of the nearby gravestone while murmuring out "…Can't catch a lucky break just once…can I?"

Kokoro tilts her head and says to this depressed girl "Who are you? I've never seen you around here before…" Barely giving any effort in her response, the girl said while slightly poking her head up "I'm Kogasa Tatara…A youkai better off in the trash…" The response was rather blunt in regards to how Kogasa viewed her self-worth, and Kokoro accidentally ended up sounding uncaring due to her stoic voice as she gave a response of "Oh…"

"…What about you?" Still wallowing in her guilt, Kogasa looks to find out who her youkai guest was, and while keeping up with her own melancholy the menreiki replies "I am Hata no Kokoro, a youkai who has screwed everything up with her adopted parents…" "You're a screw-up as well? …Sigh…" Kogasa and Kokoro share in an almost synchronized sigh fest for the next few seconds, but in the middle of this the umbrella youkai pays attention to the name of her company and opens her eyes up a little more.

"…Hata no Kokoro…" She murmurs out, and then her eyes widen more as she remarks in surprise "Oh! I've heard about you!" This grabs Kokoro's attention, but in line with her attitude very recently the menreiki says in a depressed manner "…You probably heard about how much of a screw-up I am."

"Oh no no! I don't even read those silly newspapers! I just heard a few times of a tsukumogami that expressed emotions with her masks. You're the same type of Youkai as I am!" Kogasa's happy remark makes Kokoro curiously tilt her head while remarking "…You're a tsukumogami like me?" The menreiki was beginning to see why Raiko suggested she check the graveyard out, but this bit of news didn't do much to lift Kokoro's spirits.

Kogasa nods her head and pokes her own tongue out slightly, playfully stating to the menreiki "This umbrella is my original form. I have to carry around with me at all times, but I don't mind at all." Kokoro glances away from the umbrella after a few seconds of looking at it, followed by her gesturing towards her mask and explaining "I was born from 66-masks…But there's only 64 of them on me now." "You lost two of your masks? How'd that happen?" Kogasa remarks.

"It's a long story…" Kokoro says in a semi-distressed tone of voice, and afterwards Kogasa tilts her head and lifts her umbrella back up while stating "Oh, alright then…So when I jumped out and surprised you earlier, that mask you had showed that you were surprised?" The menreiki makes half an effort to glance at Kogasa while replying quietly "…Yes."

"Heheh…So I guess I at least can surprise people…So long as they aren't humans…Sigh…" Kogasa quickly goes back to a depressed state of being, but this time she leans her head back and looks up towards the sky. Kokoro then glances at the umbrella Youkai and says to her after a momentary pause "…It seems we both have problems we're struggling with…"

Kogasa lowers her head and crumples her mouth up into an anxious expression, glancing away from the menreiki while remarking "Oh it's nothing major…" The way she spoke made it seem like she wanted to avoid discussing the issues on her mind because of her unfamiliarity with Kokoro, especially once Kogasa glanced forward and asked "So why are you here anyways?"

Kokoro turned her head to the side and said "…I screwed things up with my adopted mother, and now my older sister might be in trouble and I don't know what to do…" Kogasa says in turn "So you decided to hide in this graveyard until things blow over? Got to admit, that's an interesting idea…Never heard of a Youkai being adopted or having an older sister before though…" "Byakuren and Miko adopted me as my mother and father respectively months ago. I'm surprised you didn't know that, considering you're a resident of this temple…" Kokoro replies.

"Huh? H-Hold on a second there, you're making a pretty big assumption there!" Kogasa says while waving her right hand out in an embarrassed manner, and Kokoro takes note of this so she can pay attention enough to hear the umbrella youkai explain herself with "I'm not a part of this temple. I just use their graveyard to try and surprise humans. Though Byakuren does try every now and then to recruit me, I always decline. Got to say, considering what she tries to do, I'm not surprised she adopted a Youkai as her daughter."

"Well, now I see why I've never seen you before now…" Kokoro remarks, and Kogasa in turn says "Same goes to you…Now that I think about it, you choosing to hide here doesn't make any sense now that I know you're Byakuren's adopted daughter." "I'm not trying to hide, I just ended up wandering here after I…said a terrible thing to mommy…" Kokoro's depression comes back after some moments of not letting it affect her.

Kogasa blinks her eyelids a couple times in surprise before stating "Byakuren didn't get mad at you, did she? Cause that's not something I can easily imagine…" "I don't know if she's mad at me or not…" Kokoro replies, and Kogasa twirls her umbrella around while murmuring to herself quietly for a few seconds while glancing around the graveyard awkwardly.

Kogasa then tries to make things better for the menreiki by proclaiming cheerfully "So hey! Isn't the sun beautiful today?!" Kokoro notices that the umbrella youkai was really forcing her enthusiasm as she asked that question, and instead of answering her question Kokoro asked "…Do you have any idea of what I should do?" Kogasa seems a bit dejected afterwards as she replied "…I don't know what to do to help, Kokoro. I don't even know how to help myself…"

"…What do you need help with?" Kokoro inquires, and Kogasa in turn replies "I want to surprise humans, but I either keep surprising Youkai or humans find me cute and unthreatening." The menreiki rests one hand on her chin as Kogasa pouts, and without realizing the meaning she ends up replying to her "I can see why humans find you cute…"

Kogasa immediately glances at the menreiki and blushes with a wide-eyed expression, and states "Y-You're pretty blunt, aren't you?" Kokoro then tilts her head in confusion at the response, but then goes on to mention "Anyways, I guess I don't understand why you're so worried about surprising people." "Because it's how I survive." Kogasa replies rather quickly.

Kokoro then glances at the umbrella youkai curiously and intently, and Kogasa goes on to explain "Look, as a tsukumogami, you understand what it's like to be abandoned by humans, right? Well I still have some fond memories of my owner, so I don't want to go around killing or eating humans as revenge. Instead I try to scare them with my surprises in order to feed myself." "…Actually, I was never abandoned by anyone." Kokoro decides to correct Kogasa before addressing the rest of the conversation with "But you don't NEED to scare humans, right?"

"I kind of do. I tried to eat regular human food like apples and such, but I always found myself hungry no matter how much I ate…And then the humans would get mad at me for taking too much food…Sigh…" Kogasa hangs her head and looks dejected once more, but the emotion doesn't last too long as she quickly looks at Kokoro and tells her "Look, don't worry about me, alright? One surprised human is enough to last me quite a while, but at this rate I kind of wonder if I'll even be able to get ONE human surprised…"

"…Just try not to give up hope, Kogasa. You're a youkai, that means you'll live through multiple generations of humans, that means new blood to scare will show up eventually." Kokoro advises, even though a part of her didn't like the thought of this suggestion leading to a human dying from a heart attack caused by Kogasa's surprises. Kogasa tilts her head and states in a curious tone "You think so?"

Kogasa then looks at Kokoro, who gives her a confident nod of her head in response to her inquiry, followed by the umbrella youkai asking "And how do you survive, Kokoro?" "I eat fruit and cooked meats…Even though mommy wouldn't approve of the second one." Kokoro replies rather nonchalantly, and Kogasa chuckles and says "Hehe, sounds like you're a little rebellious when it comes to Byakuren. Honestly, that's another reason I can't become a part of her temple group…I prefer to be free, going wherever the wind literally takes me, and a religion would just be too restrictive for me."

"…Free, huh?" Kokoro remarks, thinking back to what Raiko also mentioned about freedom the night before for a few moments. Then the menreiki acknowledges the other remark about her being a rebel by glaring slightly at Kogasa and saying "I'm not trying to be rebellious…I have to survive somehow, after all, and fruit and veggies aren't enough." "Hahaha, yeah I guess that makes sense. Still, you did say you said some things to her before, so I was just thinking about that too when I called you a rebel." Kogasa remarks in a humored tone of voice, seeming to be in slightly better spirits after Kokoro gave her that earlier suggestion.

The umbrella youkai then teases Kokoro by lightly sticking her tongue out, and the menreiki appeared ready to respond to her until she realized something rather important because of this whole conversation she's had with Kogasa. Laying one hand on her chest, Kokoro glances down and says "I have become more rebellious lately, haven't I? …I eat meat, I went to a punk of the rock concert, I kept my meetings with Tenshi a secret from mommy, and I said some bad things to her…"

The menreiki was finding it a little hard to admit it, but just as she had been influencing Tenshi to be a little nicer the inverse held true and the Celestial seemed to have caused Kokoro to become more of, as her mommy called it, a delinquent. "Something up, Kokoro?" Kogasa asks, and Kokoro lifts her head up and mentions "I don't know Kogasa…I feel like I understand why mommy is so concerned about me now."

"How come?" Kogasa was curious to know why Kokoro was saying such things, and Kokoro replies "I don't think I told you this yet, but my older sister…Well, she's Tenshi." "Tenshi? That crazy Celestial? …Kokoro, I think you have a really weird 'family'. Anyways, go on." Kogasa undersold in her tone of voice just how weird the menreiki was when it came to her family, followed by Kokoro mentioning "Well, mommy didn't know that I was seeing Tenshi until recently, and when she found out she thought Tenshi might still be using me for her own pranks…But while that's not true, it seems that I've become more rebellious because of her…"

"Tenshi used you for a prank? …Huh…" Kogasa said, at this point just going with the flow of what Kokoro was bringing up instead of being surprised anymore. "Anyways, so wouldn't it make sense to stop seeing Tenshi in that case?" "I can't Kogasa…she's like an older sister to me. I don't ever want to stop seeing someone I consider to be family…" As Kokoro places one hand on her chest again and sounded somewhat saddened to even consider rejecting Tenshi from her life, Kogasa tilted her head and thought about the life she had before she became a tsukumogami.

"…Yeah, I think I get what you're saying. When you're close to someone, it will always pain you to let them go…" The memory of the girl that once carried her around merrily flashes before her eyes, and immediately Kogasa lets out a melancholy sniffle as a single teardrop begins to form in both of her eyes. Kokoro looks the youkai in the eyes and says to her in a concerned manner "What's the matter, Kogasa?" "I-I'm alright, Kokoro…" Kogasa rubs the tears away with her sleeve and tries to get those memories out of her mind in the process.

Once she'd done with that, she puts on a forced smile before sticking her tongue out and saying in her perky tone "Anyways! Sounds to me like you're just going to have to figure this problem out on your own! But like you said to me, don't give up hope!" Kokoro, hearing the echoes of her own words from the mouth of Kogasa, nods her head and says to the youkai "I just need to apologize to mommy and maybe talk to Tenshi about my recent behavior. Thank you very much for listening to me, Kogasa…"

As Kokoro bows forward politely, Kogasa humbly twirls her umbrella around and gestures forth with her right hand while saying "Awww, I didn't really do anything to help. You seemed to help me a lot more by comparison, if I have to be honest. You're certainly much, MUCH nicer than the last tsukumogami that came to this graveyard." *

(* Confused again? Well you won't be if you read Gensokyo One-Shots Story 6, available to read since 8 months ago!)

(** "…You're seriously going to keep doing this, aren't you?)

(* SHUT UP MY POWER IS TO THE EXTENT OF CHEAP ADVERTISING)

"You are very pleasant company when you aren't acting worried, Kogasa-san." Kokoro remarks, and the umbrella youkai would've lost her balance and fallen onto her back in response had she not been leaning against a gravestone still. "Whoa now! W-We just met! I don't think that warrants you using an honorific with my name!" Kogasa blurts out in a very surprised tone, and with a puzzled tilt of her head Kokoro says "Then perhaps I could call you my older sister as well?"

Kogasa lowers her eyelids and says in a somewhat bothered tone "Kokoro, I think you're missing the point here." "Besides, I think I would get pretty jealous if someone else was Kokoro's older sister." Another familiar voice responds to Kogasa's remark, and both the umbrella and menreiki youkais turn their head in the same direction to see Tenshi standing there in the graveyard with her arms folded rather nonchalantly in front of her chest and a grin on her face.

Kokoro's mask changes to show her surprise at Tenshi's sudden appearance in the graveyard, and Kogasa in turn says with a nervous stutter "Y-Y-You're T-T-T-Tenshi!" The Celestial remarks in turn "Ah great, don't tell me you've been telling this Youkai bad stories about me, Kokoro." Kokoro shakes her head in response, but then quickly looks at the Celestial and asks her "How did you find me? …Don't tell me mommy already called you here after what I said."

Tenshi glances at Kokoro, while Kogasa quickly scurries out of sight due to fear of the Celestial. "You aren't that hide to find, especially when your masks glow so brightly in this fog. No wonder you'd never get lost during a dark night, Kokoro." Tenshi says in a humored tone, and Kokoro remarks a moment later "…You do realize this is the Myouren Temple, right? There's no way you could've just flown here without someone noticing you."

"Maybe." Tenshi remarks with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, but then she smirks and says to Kokoro "What does it matter anyways? You said I could come down and see you anytime, and you specified this location even though I pointed out how awkward it would be." "Ummm…Well, here's the thing…" Kokoro awkwardly glances to the side, and after a couple minutes of spilling everything that happened this morning Tenshi was just left with a completely disbelieving wide-eyed expression as she lowered her arms beside her hips and said "I chose the worst time to do this, didn't I?"

Kokoro nodded her head in response, and Tenshi scoffs before glancing out of the corner of her eyes at the nearby temple and stating "Well you know, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Just go inside, apologize to that Buddhist, and she probably will just forget about me eventually. It's only a little past noon, so you got plenty of time to fix this today, Kokoro." As nonchalant as Tenshi's helpful advice was, Kokoro had to point out to her "Tenshi, it's not as simple as you think. You see, I need to talk to you-" But midway through the point she was planning to make the menreiki heard the time mentioned by the Celestial and said "Wait…it's a little past noon?"

"Maybe close to one, judging by the position of the sun…Why do you ask?" Tenshi quickly replies before glancing back at Kokoro with a puzzled expression, and the menreiki responds by saying "…I have to get to the Scarlet Devil Mansion soon for another play-date with Flandre. But mommy and daddy still haven't gotten back yet…" The menreiki's concerns are met by Tenshi saying to her bluntly "Then you should go there now! It'd be the perfect place to hide from your parents until you can figure out how to make this whole problem simple to solve!"

"…Ummm…" Kokoro was wrought with confusion a moment later, as she was torn between sticking around here and waiting for her adopted parents to return to face their punishment, or failing to meet up with Flandre and later facing her disappointment and possibly destructive powers. It was then that an idea sparked within the mind of the menreiki, and she mentioned this idea to the Celestial by saying "I think I know how to solve this problem."

"Run it by me." Tenshi says in a curious tone. Kokoro then went on to say while doing her best impression of enthusiasm by stretching her arms out "All I have to do in order to make mommy think I'm not becoming a full delinquent is to fully help Flandre out with her problems. And you can come and help me out, Tenshi, that way she'll believe that you aren't trying to manipulate me anymore!"

There was an awkward silence between both the menreiki and Celestial for at least ten seconds after Kokoro detailed her plan, followed by Tenshi raising a single eyebrow and telling Kokoro upfront the major flaw in her idea "…Your plan is to take me from one place that has super-strong people that likely want my head to another place with the same type of people?" "If you're worried about Patchouli, she's just sickly these days. At the worst she'll throw a book at your head…" Kokoro says, her body twitching a bit as she remembers the blow she took to her noggin yesterday.

"…That's not the only person I'm worried about, Kokoro." Tenshi remarks, and Kokoro says in turn "But I thought you didn't worry about anyone? Aren't you the great and mighty Tenshi, who has defeated all who came to stop your pranks?" The menreiki was a little reluctant in giving Tenshi an ego boost, but it seemed to work in her favor as the Celestial perked her expression up and said with little volume control "You're right! I am the great and mighty Tenshi! If I want to go inside of a mansion with you in order to prove that I'm not a manipulative influence by helping a destructive vampire with her problems, then nothing, not even a librarian, can stop me from doing so!"

After saying what was likely the weirdest combination of words ever used in a single Gensokyo paragraph, Tenshi glanced fiercely at Kokoro and said "Alright then Kokoro! If you want to do this plan, then let's not waste anymore time!" "…Especially since you've alerted anyone in the temple of your presence, Tenshi." Kokoro dryly remarks as she glances around, hoping that nobody was approaching the graveyard to come after the Celestial.

Once she knew they were both safe, Kokoro took off with Tenshi, who summoned forth a keystone beneath her feet for herself to ride on. They traveled out of the fog and past the temple walls, where it just so happened that Byakuren and Miko were walking in from the front entrance. But unfortunately, both figures caught a glimpse of the assumedly fleeing menreiki and the delinquent Celstial. This sight was enough to nearly make Byakuren's face turn pale with fear, and the heavy pain in her chest was also not helping her body's current state of being.

"Oh Kokoro…What are you doing? Why are you doing this? …I can't believe that you would become a delinquent…" Byakuren remarks in a melancholy tone, but in a supportive manner Miko glances at her and remarks "Is it really that simple, Hijiri? It's not wise to make assumptions about what's going on with Kokoro and the Celestial." "…I don't know what to do, Miko. I've never dealt with anything like this before…" Byakuren remarks while resting one hand on her forehead and letting out a tired sigh.

With a grin, Miko suggested to the Buddhist priest "Then perhaps it's time for a more paternal touch. Just relax yourself, Hijiri, go recite some sutras, have a cup of tea or two, and let me handle the matter of Kokoro." Byakuren glances weakly at Miko and says to her "…Are you sure?" Miko gives a confident nod of her head while tapping her shaku against her chin, and Byakuren hesitantly says in turn "…Ok, I have faith in you, Miko. But be careful, that Celestial might try something…"

Byakuren then slowly retreats back to her temple while trying to look dignified, even though her mind was still wrought with concern for her adopted daughter. As she leaves, Mamizou ends up walking past Byakuren and approaches Miko with her arms folded and a puzzled look in her eyes. "So, I'm guessing things went bad with Kokoro?" Miko remarks "It appears as though Kokoro has run off with the Celestial, disobeying her mother's wishes in the process." "Oh, is that so?" Mamizou says in an unsurprised tone of voice.

Miko then chuckles slightly, turning her head to face the tanuki while stating "Byakuren is quite worried that Kokoro is becoming rebellious, but I suspect that something else is going on with her. I imagine Kokoro is going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion next, since Hijiri mentioned that she had a meeting there today, so I think I will go there and meet Kokoro and the Celestial to see what is going on. Will you join me, tanuki?"

Mamizou declines with a shake of her head, remarking afterwards "I have some other business to attend to today. But I will be back tomorrow to see if things have gotten better. Oh, I remember how much of a rebellious scamp I was in my adolescence…" The tanuki lays one hand on her chin and starts to feel a bit nostalgic, while Miko turns away from the entrance of the temple grounds and says "Then I shall be off."

Miko then takes off towards the sky to go for the SDM, and once she was certainly far away Mamizou slowly takes her hand off her chin and glances around suspiciously. "Hmm…" The tanuki murmurs in an intrigued tone of voice, as though she sensed something odd in the atmosphere around her. Looking towards the forest, Mamizou decided to head into it, as that was where the strange atmosphere was emanating from.

Once in the forest, Mamizou walked between the trees for quite a few minutes, her head moving around cautiously to ensure that she wouldn't be ambushed. Once the tanuki reached an open patch of grass in the middle of the forest, she found the source behind that odd sensation in the atmosphere. Sitting on her gap with a carefree grin of intrigue and her signature parasol in her hand was the youkai Yukari Yakumo. As Mamizou's eyelids narrowed, Yukari said to her in a forcibly polite tone "Hello again, Futatsuiwa Mamizou…Now that I finally found you, I think it's time we have a talk about our little menreiki friend, hmm?"

_Next Time: To Change a Vampire_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Bat in Her Cage**

Mamizou glances at the gap youkai curiously, saying to her with the utmost politeness despite the irritation she felt in her heart at that moment "It has been a while. Such a shame that it couldn't have been even longer." Yukari grinned as she reached into a gap and pulled out a fan that she spread out and waved in front of her face while saying to the tanuki in a teasing tone "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't want me around~"

"Really? Which word gave you that particular idea?" Mamizou replies as she takes off her glasses for a moment and rubs some dust off of the right lens with her sleeve. Once the tanuki puts the glasses back on her face she glances at Yukari and inquires "So, I assume there is some reason you wished to seek me out besides talking about Kokoro?" Yukari giggles as she lays her fan against the bottom of her lips and remarks "Not particularly. Let us try and keep the conversation focused on the little menreiki, hmmm?"

Mamizou lets out a subtle sigh through her nostrils before remarking "Very well. Considering your penchant for spying, I would assume you already know all you need to about Kokoro's current ventures?" Yukari says to the tanuki playfully "Now Mamizou, that's quite rude of you. Little ol' me, spying on the young menreiki?" As the youkai lays one hand on her chest, the tanuki raises an eyebrow at her attempt to play innocent.

Yukari thus quickly drops the playful act for now as she folds her fan up and folds her arms in front of her body, laying them atop another gap that she summons forth so she can look down at the tanuki and say to her "Truth be told, I was just trying not to come across as a snooping youkai." "You say that after intentionally creating a sensation that would lure me towards you…" Mamizou replies in a rather blunt manner.

"Touché, tanuki." Yukari says with an intrigued raise of her right eyebrow, followed by her stating "Personally, I do not like to directly force a meeting with people of interest, but Ran just had such a hard time trying to seek out a single tanuki over the last few months that I had no choice but to do the job myself after disciplining her." Mamizou folds her arms into her sleeves and puts on a somewhat proud grin as she remarks "The day this old tanuki is caught by a fox is the day my family name is permanently shamed."

"And naturally, you will not tell me just how you managed to elude Ran. Ok then, let us move on the subject at hand. So, I assume everything is going well with Kokoro's emotional state?" Yukari inquires with her grin subtly appearing on her face, and with her pose relaxing after her moment of pride Mamizou remarks "Well, that can easily be inferred by the lack of emotion shifts across Gensokyo lately, right?"

"We will get nowhere if we keep answering questions with questions, Mamizou. Say yes, say no, or perhaps give a detailed response. One of those three decisions will suffice." Yukari says nonchalantly, and Mamizou remarks with a tiny smile "…Very well. I passed on my duties to Byakuren and Miko. They have been acting as Kokoro's parents. She's also visiting the Scarlet Devil Mansion…Apparently to see the younger sister, but I do not know many other details beside that. And finally, Kokoro befriended the Celestial Tenshi not long after that incident…"

"Now that is the most interesting detail of all, wouldn't you agree?" Yukari says in regards to Tenshi and Kokoro, and Mamizou says "Perhaps on your end. I was the one who helped push the Celestial towards going down that path, after all." Yukari then smirks mischievously and says "But you know, you said nothing to me about how Kokoro is doing emotionally."

The tanuki perks her head up slightly and says "She is doing well. Perhaps a little depression from a lack of Noh play inspiration, but otherwise she has not been emotionally compromised." "And yet, we find our little menreiki rebelling against her mother's wishes after yelling at her." Yukari remarks nonchalantly while laying one hand against the side of her face and putting on a sincere smile. Mamizou flinches for a moment, but she is not able to hide her reaction well enough as the gap youkai says to her "You have to remember, Futatsuiwa Mamizou, that I am very particular when it comes to my decisions. I always choose the best time to do something, and what better time to force a meeting with you than when I noticed Kokoro becoming emotionally compromised."

"Hmmm, the timing of your re-appearance did seem too good, now that you mention it. But what of it? You can't tell me you understand just why Kokoro decided to disobey her adopted mother." Mamizou presses Yukari on this particular matter because she already knew the response. Sure enough, the gap youkai claps her hands together twice and says "True, true. But you are just as blind as I am on this matter, and you do remember what I said in regards to Kokoro, yes?"

"That you would handle her yourself if things got out of hand again?" Mamizou says, before following up with a mention of "But the situation has not gotten out of hand." "Yet." Yukari swiftly and playfully replies, followed by her wagging one finger out and stating "Please understand this, Mamizou, I will not act on any assumptions about what's going…If I do anything prematurely, well, then that would only end badly for all of us."

"Yes, that little warning you gave me about those two visitors…But I will respect that you only want to talk about Kokoro, only if you allow me to ask a single question." Mamizou says, and with a grin as she laid her arms down back on the gap Yukari had no objections about the request. The tanuki thus asked "Why do you have so much of an interest in Kokoro? If you are looking to force someone to help you stop those invaders, then wouldn't it make more sense to use your connections to the Scarlet Devil Mansion or that ghost girl, Yuyuko?"

"…If you don't mind me going into a bit of an explanation, then I can reveal something a little surprising about our little menreiki." Yukari says, and Mamizou does not object. With the gap youkai leaning back on a series of gaps she creates, she goes on to explain "At the core, tsukumogamis have one thing in common. They were originally human-created objects. Kogasa was an umbrella, Medicine was a doll, and Kokoro was sixty-six masks…You get the point."

"Because of this, a tsukumogami has the ability to express emotions like a human would due to their close connections to the human soul. How they were treated before their transformation determines their emotional state…And there lies the interesting thing about Kokoro. The objects she were born from were meant to express emotions through plays, therefore, Kokoro herself was born incapable of expressing emotions on her own. Now, this is where it gets interesting…"

Mamizou listened in closely now, as everything said beforehand was stuff she theorized about once before. Yukari says to the tanuki "Despite all of them taking on a human appearance on the outside, tsukumogamis have a Youkai set of organs on the inside. The one exception to this rule, is Hata no Kokoro, whose body is completely like that of a human adolescent." "…That's impossible." Mamizou finds herself saying, her knowledge of tsukumogamis being called into question due to what Yukari just revealed.

"Think about it like this. The masks are based on human emotions. If a Youkai was formed from the tsukumogami process, it would contradict the purpose the masks were made for, and the masks would cease to exist via a paradox. Thus, the only other solution would be for a human to be born from the process. However, because of the unnatural nature of this birth, Kokoro ended up being a stoic shell that housed the sixty-six masks."

"Naturally, you've noticed that Kokoro only utilizes a few masks when it comes to expressing emotions, right? Ko-omote for joy, Hannya for anger, Uba for melancholy, Fuku no kami for laughter, Hyottoko for cheerfulness, the monkey for confusion, Raiden for surprise, and the now deceased Fox for seriousness…That's because as the primary emotions for the human soul, they are the strongest of the sixty-six masks. They hold so much power inside of them, that if one were to successfully manifest itself as a Youkai…"

"They'd be strong enough to defeat the Celestial Tenshi, wouldn't they?" Mamizou interrupts Yukari, having come to realize the point she was making before she said it. This pleased the gap youkai, as she then went on to state "You figured it out. I'm not surprised." The tanuki lays one hand on her chin and says "I always did find it weird that Kokoro suddenly went from barely surviving against someone of Byakuren or Miko's level to being able to overpower Tenshi with ease."

"Yes. Whenever Kokoro experiences an emotion on the highest feasible level, the mask is unable to hold her back any longer and promptly breaks, thus allowing the menreiki to experience the emotion all on her own. But with it also comes a torrent of raw power born from the emotional energy contained within the mask. There is, however, a catch, in that Kokoro can only use that power whenever she uses the emotion of the mask that broke."

"…I think I get why you are interested in her now." Mamizou says, using those select words to tell Yukari to end her explanation. The gap Youkai listens on as the tanuki folds her arms into her sleeves and says "You intend to have every single one of the primary emotion masks break, making it so Kokoro will always have the power she displayed against Tenshi." Yukari claps her hands together proudly while remarking with a smile "You pieced it all together. Congratulations."

"…Comparatively speaking, how powerful is Kokoro when she utilizes the emotional energy from the broken masks?" Mamizou inquires, and Yukari is all happy to reply "In all of Gensokyo, I am the only Phantasm-level Youkai. Some come close, such as Tenshi or Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, but they are restricted by laziness and duty respectively. Kokoro, on the other hand, is the only other Youkai who can reach a Phantasm-level." "…You're specifying Youkai. Are you suggesting that Rei-"

Mamizou's inquiry is stopped by Yukari raising a finger and saying "We are only talking about Kokoro, remember? But then again, I feel I have said enough to you. You know the stakes now, so I will leave you to deal with the little youkai's problems." The gap Youkai then forms a gap as big as her body behind her, prepared to lean into it to leave the tanuki be. However, before she left, Mamizou said to her "Just one more question."

Yukari glances at Mamizou with a curious smile and waits for her to toss out her inquiry. The tanuki folds her arms into her sleeves and glares at the gap Youkai coldly before saying "If you intend to turn Kokoro into your own weapon for defense against those two intruders, you better realize that you'll be facing the wrath of some of Gensokyo's strongest, ok?" Yukari grins at the thought and replies to the tanuki by playfully waving her hand and saying "Futatsuiwa Mamizou, it would be much better for your own safety if you didn't try to assume my intentions, ok?" With that, Yukari vanished from sight through her gap…

As the conversation between tanuki and gap youkai occurred, Kokoro and Tenshi were busy flying towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The Celestial had her arms folded against her chest as she stood on a keystone that followed closely beside the menreiki, who had been quiet ever since they left the graveyard. Bothered by the silence, Tenshi sat herself on the keystone and turned her head to look at her self-proclaimed little sister before asking "Hey Kokoro, don't you want to talk at all?"

"Hmmm?" Kokoro's face flinches for a moment, and the monkey mask appears beside her for a moment to show that she had been broken from a state of deep thought by Tenshi's remark. The Celestial remarks as the menreiki turns her head to look at her "You probably shouldn't daydream while flying, Kokoro." "I wasn't daydreaming, Tenshi, I was just thinking about something." Kokoro dryly replies before she looks back ahead of her.

Gesturing out to the side with a somewhat annoyed expression, Tenshi says to her sarcastically "Ok, so you were lost in thought, whatever, big difference there. I just never expected you to be silent during travel with me." "I'm just trying to figure out how we can have the least amount of problems when we go to the SDM…So far, I've come up with ideas to avoid contact with everyone that isn't Flandre or Patchouli." Kokoro's response leads to Tenshi letting out a worried sigh before she rubs the back of her head and hesitantly asks "Alright, what you got?"

"First, we'll wait for Mei Ling to fall asleep on the job, and then quietly float over her into the mansion. Then, we'll throw a rock through one of the windows from the inside so Sakuya will be too busy to deal with that to come across us. Remilia rarely shows up, so we won't need to worry about her. And as far as Patchouli…" "Ok, Kokoro, I'm going to stop you right there." Tenshi snaps her fingers to drag Kokoro back to reality, and once the menreiki has turned her attention towards her the Celestial folds her arms behind her head and remarks "First off, props on the rock throwing idea, that sounds like something I would've come up with."

Seeing how Kokoro was trying NOT to seem like she was being negatively influenced by Tenshi, the Celestial's remark causes Kokoro's mask of awkwardness to appear before she quickly presses it against the front of her face. Though Kokoro realized the folly in her plan from a "contradiction of her goals" standpoint, Tenshi still felt the need to say to her "…Anyways, if you are trying to have me avoid so many people in the mansion, don't you think it'd be a better idea to just not drag me along?"

Kokoro removes the mask from her face and glances slightly at Tenshi, saying to her "But then mommy won't believe that you helped me out. You aren't a very good liar, Tenshi, especially not around daddy…" The remark, blunt in spite of it's stoic tone, caused Tenshi to react with a full-body flinch before she moved her arms to the front of her chest and said "Fair point." She then glanced at Kokoro and said to her "But honestly, it might be better just to wing it on this one. No offense Kokoro, but I don't think making plans is supposed to be your forte."

As Kokoro continues to look at Tenshi with an unoffended look in her eyes, the Celestial went on to mention "Also, why are you having trouble figuring out how to deal with that asthmatic librarian? She's probably just holed up in a corner of the library with a book in hand. The basement where that Flandre person lives is on the opposite end of the mansion from the library, right?" Tenshi's inquiry is met with Kokoro pausing for a moment before saying hesitantly to her companion "…There's something I forgot to mention."

"What is it?" Tenshi asks, and it doesn't take long for Kokoro to explain the role Patchouli plays in her meetings with Flandre. Once the menreiki was done, Tenshi raised her eyebrows and said with a barely phased expression "That's it? That really doesn't sound so bad. That librarian won't try anything in the presence of the little sister, if what you're saying is true." Kokoro is surprised by this response considering Tenshi's earlier statements, and with a slight tilt of her head she says "Are you sure about that?"

Tenshi swings her right hand down in a nonchalant manner and remarks "Like you said, what do I have to fear? I'm Tenshi Hinanawi, one of Gensokyo's strongest!" Though the boast of being the strongest didn't mean much as far as Gensokyo is concerned, Kokoro at least felt confident that things might work out. As Kokoro turned her head away, Tenshi's right eye twitches as she thinks to herself _"I'm flying straight towards the lions' den…If it wasn't Kokoro asking me to do this, I'd be out of here already…"_

Regardless of her concerns, the Celestial put on a brave face and takes in a deep but subtle breath as she notices that the mansion was approaching. Kokoro glances down at the mansion and sees Mei Ling stand guard at the gate, the immediate thing that comes to her attention being the fact that she was awake. But while this raised some worries, there was one thing Kokoro was hoping for as she glanced at Tenshi and said "She's awake, but I bet she doesn't know what you look like."

"We'll see, Kokoro." Tenshi remarks as she and Kokoro descend towards the front of the mansion. Mei Ling glances up and sees the two approaching, and it was a good sign when she lifted her hand up and waved happily. Kokoro turned her head to face Tenshi and gave her a thumbs-up, which looked rather funny with her stoic expression. The two land on the ground in front of Mei Ling, who tucks her hands into her pockets and says "You're here a little early today Kokoro."

"I…I wanted to owe up for being late yesterday." Kokoro makes up a reason for her early appearance, keeping her eyes focused on Mei Ling to make her words more convincing despite the stutter. "Not judging. But I have to ask, who's the person with you?" Mei Ling tilts her head and glances at Tenshi while putting on a somewhat suspect expression. With warning signs going off in Tenshi's head, she quickly places one hand against her chest and proclaims while it out proudly and proclaiming "I am Hata no Hinanawi! Kokoro's big sister!"

Kokoro was surprised by the choice Tenshi made to explain who she was, even if the second part of it was technically true. Mei Ling seemed to accept this explanation rather quickly, as she steadied her head and remarked "Kokoro's never mentioned a sister before…Wait, so you're also a tsukumogami?" Mei Ling chose a particularly good question to ask Tenshi, and though Kokoro assumed that there would be no way to prove that Tenshi was one the Celestial proved both her and Mei Ling wrong by holding her right hand out and summoning her Hisou no Tsurugi.

"I was born from this sword." Tenshi says. "Hmmm? Is that really how that works? …Ugh, I'll just have to ask Patchouli about that later." Mei Ling remarks, finding that thinking about the whole thing was going to be more troublesome than it was worth, which was basically the equivalent of saying to Kokoro that the first part of getting into the mansion was done, allowing Kokoro a chance to let out a quick sigh of relief alongside Tenshi before Mei Ling said to them "Well anyways, I'm sure Lady Remilia won't mind having your big sister help out with her little sister, so head on in and head for the basement."

Mei Ling finishes her sentence off by backhanding the front of the gate to have it open, and then she stands aside a bit so Tenshi and Kokoro can go on ahead. So they don't screw anything up by saying anymore, the two quickly make their way through the front doors of the mansion. Once inside, Kokoro turns to look at Tenshi and says to her "That was good thinking, Tenshi." The Celestial proudly folds her arms behind her head and says "Hehe, that's why I'm the brains between the two of us." In the time Tenshi spends bragging, Kokoro nonchalantly turns towards the right hallway and begins to move towards it without saying anything regarding Tenshi's boast. Tenshi lowers her arms and flinches in surprise before she runs after Kokoro and says "Hey! Wait up!"

Kokoro immediately turns around and puts one finger to her mouth while whispering out "Shhhh". Tenshi was caught off by how sudden this attempt to quiet her was, and as Kokoro draws her hands back she explains quietly "Quiet Tenshi, or you'll alert Sakuya of your presence." "Oh right…" Tenshi remarks upon realizing that there was a bit of an echo in the mansion. Kokoro then starts to walk backwards through the hallway while stating "It's not that far from here…"

The menreiki then starts to turn around to focus on the path ahead, but finds herself running right into Remilia as she enters her throne room. The rebound of the collision causes her to back into Tenshi. Kokoro then recovers quickly and looks ahead of herself, her body freezing up as she looks into Remilia's smiling face, whose fangs were being pronounced between her lips. Remilia presses her fingers together at the tips in front of her chest and says to the young menreiki "Well well, I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

Kokoro thinks to herself as she starts to form a single sweat drop on her face _"This isn't good…" _"H-Hello…Remilia." The menreiki then said nervously while lifting a hand up to wave at her. Remilia widens her grin and narrows her eyelids before saying "If you are to greet someone of my nature, then you are to bow, Hata no Kokoro."

As Kokoro decides not to anger Remilia by bowing forward, Tenshi folds her arms against her chest and remarks rather hypocritically "Do you have to be so arrogant?" Kokoro's mask shows some panic for her as she lifts her head up and glances back at Tenshi, pressing and spreading apart her arms to get her to not say anymore, but the damage was already done as Remilia gleams at Tenshi and says to her "Hmmm…Blue-hair, a peach on your hat, and a dress with an apron in front of it? You fit the description Sakuya gave to me, Tenshi."

With that, there was not a single chance of Tenshi and Kokoro pulling a ruse on Remilia, and Kokoro quickly hides her face behind a mask in shame. "So you're familiar with me. Big deal, everyone in Gensokyo knows who I am!" Tenshi matches Remilia's arrogance with a boast of her own while she lifts her head up and smirks. Remilia then says "Oh, I'm just wondering what makes you think you have the right to stand in my mansion uninvited" as she stretches her right arm out and reveals her long nails, making Kokoro assume that she was wanting to engage in a battle with Tenshi.

Thus, by bravely pulling her mask away from her face Kokoro says to Remilia "P-Please don't fight…I'm not trying to cause any trouble by bringing Tenshi here." The vampire glances at Kokoro with a puzzled expression before grinning and saying "Fufufu, you are misinterpreting my actions, Hata no Kokoro. All I'm saying is that if you were going to bring this Celestial here, you should have told me ahead of time."

"…Huh?" Kokoro says as she lets go of her mask the moment is changes into that of the monkey. Tenshi was equally confused by Remilia's remark, until the vampire folded her fingers back in front of her chest and explained "Lets just say that I am in a very good mood today, and you are to thank for that, Hata no Kokoro. Patchouli told me about how Flandre did not destroy that deck of cards yesterday, and that's a sign of progress if I've ever seen one from my little sister. As such, I was considering granting you one request, something that you could say I don't do very often…"

"…Really?" Kokoro remarks, and Remilia says to her with a nod of her head "If you want this Celestial to be in the mansion today, then I will allow it. I would imagine you aren't foolish enough to bring her here without faith that she won't cause any trouble, so I will make but one thing clear in accepting this request…" The vampire steps forward and lifts her right hand up, taking one of the nails on her fingers and poking it through the center of Kokoro's shirt, poking at the skin of her chest with the sharp tip of her finger.

Kokoro twinges in pain slightly as Remilia pokes slightly into her skin and grins, saying to her with a firm but charismatic tone "If she causes harm to my mansion, then you will find these nails of mine going far deeper than this…" The vampire pulls her fingernail out and finds a little blood dripping on it that she licks off slowly as she pulls her body back. After enjoying the brief taste of Kokoro's blood, Remilia elegantly folds her fingers in front of her chest and says "Now then, I will delay you no longer, for I have places to go…"

The vampire then slowly starts to walk past Kokoro from the left side of her body. Before she's out of sight, Remilia takes a moment to glance up at Tenshi and smile, saying to her with an extension of her right hand "You know, if you are looking to help Hata no Kokoro, perhaps I could create a contract for you as well?" Tenshi shakes her head and says "No thanks. I live in Bhava-agra, I don't need any employment. I'm just helping her this time."

"Fufufu, very well." Remilia says, withdrawing her hand back in front of her chest before she departs from the view of the two, a curious grin on her face as she walked. Once the vampire was not within earshot, Tenshi scoffs and says "What's her deal? She acts as if she owns the world." Once again not realizing the irony in what she said, the Celestial folds her arms behind her head and looks at Kokoro, who was laying one hand on her chest close to where Remilia punctured her skin.

"…" Kokoro seemed bothered by the fact that she was hurt in such a way, and but she doesn't choose to linger on the issue since she would end up being late to her meeting with Flandre if she stuck around here any longer. Moving her hand away from her chest, Kokoro says "That leaves Patchouli as the only other problem…" As her and Tenshi walk towards the basement door, Tenshi says with an overconfident smirk on her face "We just got past the mansion owner without any problems. Knowing our luck today, the librarian probably is no longer vindictive."

"Ummm…" "Don't say anymore Kokoro." Tenshi swiftly stops her before she responds to her remark. Kokoro then makes it to the basement door and opens it up, going down the staircase with Tenshi following close behind. "This is going to work, this is going to work…" Kokoro murmurs to herself as the bottom of the staircase approaches. Once at the basement, the menreiki immediately notices that Flandre was sitting at the same table she was at yesterday. There were some pastries out and about on the table, and Patchouli was once more sitting on her chair with a different book in her hand.

Patchouli glanced towards the entrance to this room and saw Kokoro, showing her slight disdain as she remarked "I'm surprised. You actually came early today." But her disdain would soon turn to wide-eyed disbelief as she saw Tenshi coming down the staircase behind her, the mere sight of the Celestial's clothes setting Patchouli off as she exclaims "What the HELL is she doing here?!" But using that much volume in her voice causes her to start coughing, which allows Tenshi to get to the very bottom of the stairs and glance at Patchouli.

"_Ok, looks like she's not using that medicine she got from the gap youkai…" _Tenshi's thoughts melt her concerns away, and she lowers her arms out in order to explain bluntly "Your master approved of my appearance here. If you have a problem, take it up with her." After getting over her coughing fit, Patchouli looks at Tenshi's somewhat smug expression and remarks in stunned disbelief "Remilia, even as your friend, I think I have the right to call you insane every now and then…And now is the perfect time to do so."

But regardless of what Patchouli felt about the situation, she didn't want to escalate the situation in front of Flandre, and reluctantly closed her eyelids to avoid having Tenshi in her line of sight as she asks "Ok then Celestial, just tell me what you are doing here then." "I'm here to help Kokoro out with your master's little sister." Tenshi replies quickly while Kokoro goes to sit at the table, where Flandre lifts up the deck of cards from yesterday in her right hand and greets the menreiki with a smile.

Meanwhile, Patchouli hears the words Tenshi said and immediately thought that if she allowed Tenshi to help Flandre at all it would be like lighting the fuse to a bomb…A bomb capable of destroying the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion, that is. "You will not have direct contact with Lady Flandre." Patchouli remarks coldly towards Tenshi, and the Celestial looks at her and says "I wasn't going to do anything like that anyways. Look, it's complicated, much more complicated than anything you've ever dealt with before."

The sarcastic tone Tenshi took with Patchouli causes her to glare at her and say "Then you can sit your ass down on the floor and observe." "You know, there's a perfectly good chair around the table Kokoro and-" Tenshi's attempt to point out the flaw in Patchouli's demands nets her a quick response from the librarian as her glare intensifies and she says "Even if Remilia approved of your appearance here Celestial, know that I am the master of these meetings, and that while you stand here in this basement you are a mutt and I am your owner. Now, SIT!"

Patchouli harshly brandishes her right pointer finger down at the ground, and Tenshi, all for the sake of Kokoro being successful in her endeavors, chose to listen to the librarian and calmly sat herself down between Patchouli's chair and the staircase. Kokoro and Flandre awkwardly glanced at the whole ordeal, with Flandre getting a chuckle out of it all before she starts pulling the cards from the tiny box and asks "So that is the person you consider to be your older sister, Kokoro?"

Kokoro nods her head in response, and Flandre grins and says "Fufufu, she's certainly a humorous person. So then, shall we try and make use of these cards today?" "Hopefully we find a game that's more simple than Poker…" Kokoro remarks, followed by Flandre laying the cards out on the table in front of her as she says "I will summon all three of my clones today. Then you can do your thing to give them all their changed personalities."

Flandre thus uses her powers to create a Flandre clone on each of the chairs surrounding the table, and Kokoro holds both of her hands out to use her masks' power on each of the clones. Thus, not only did the Polite Flandre return, but also the Shy and Motherly Flandres as well. Polite Flandre, after putting on her monocle that was laying on the table in front of her, picked up the card game rule book and remarked "So, we are going to pick up where we left off yesterday. Let me just find a simple card game for all of us to play."

"C-Card game? W-What is a card game?" The Shy Flandre remarks as she hangs her head low and pouts slightly. "We have to use 52 pieces of paper to play something." The real Flandre remarks. "It's certainly nice that we get to spend time together like this though." The Motherly Flandre says while picking up a cup of tea to drink.

"Ah-ha! I think I have found a nice and simple game for us to play!" Polite Flandre exclaims before she lays the book on the ground and lays one finger at the top of the right page and stating "We shall play Go Fish. It's a simple game where we give each of us six cards and try to look to pair off the cards by asking if one of our opponents has a card we need. Say I have a 2 in my hand and you ask me if I have one, then I have to give it to you. If you ask me for a card I don't have, then I say 'Go Fish!' and you must draw a card from the deck and add it to your hand."

Once Polite Flandre's explanation of the game was at an end, Kokoro and the real Flandre raised their hands to ask a question, and the Polite Flandre said with a curious grin "Yes?" Kokoro secedes the right to ask to the real Flandre, who says to her clone "Don't we need a fishing pole to play a game called 'Go Fish'?"

"Oh no, the name 'Go Fish' refers to the act of fishing cards out from the deck…So says the book, anyways." "Ooooooh." Flandre finds herself intrigued by the explanation given to her, and with a clap of the hands she proclaims "I'm really looking forward to play then!" "Then I think you should be the one to deal out those cards." Kokoro suggests, and the real Flandre thought that was an excellent idea. Thus, after doing a rather bizarre version of shuffling involving taking the cards into a pile and just compiling them back together randomly, the real Flandre deals six cards out to each of here companions, leaving only 22 in the deck once its laid on the table.

"So once we run out of cards in the deck, what do we do?" The Motherly Flandre inquires. "I believe we are supposed to just continue trying to pair the cards in our hands. Once all the cards are gone from one person's hand, the game is over." Polite Flandre answers before she shuts the book and focuses on the cards in her hand. Shy Flandre and Kokoro start the game off by discarding one pair from their hands, and then the Polite Flandre remarks "We'll start from you and go clockwise around the table until we get back to me, Flandre."

The clone referred to the real Flandre when it made that suggestion, and the real Flandre, filled with anticipation, remarks "Shy me, do you have any Queens?" "N-No…Go Fish…" Shy Flandre pulls the cards close to her face to hide herself while replying to her original, and the real Flandre snaps her fingers and says "Hmmm, well, perhaps the deck will give me something." The real Flandre then reaches for the deck and pulls the top card up. To her surprise and joy, she managed to get a Queen.

"I got a pair!" The real Flandre says merrily as she matches the two Queens and lays them down beside her right elbow. Kokoro was really glad to see that Flandre was enjoying this simplistic game. As the four Flandres and Kokoro played their game, Tenshi laid her hands against the back of her head and remarked "Flandre doesn't seem to know much. Or perhaps she takes things too literally. You aren't a very good teacher either way, Patchouli."

The sharp remark towards her caused Patchouli to drop her attention from the card game and glance at Tenshi from the side, saying to her quietly "Your silver tongue isn't welcome here either, Celestial." With a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, Tenshi says to Patchouli "Hey, you demanded I sit. You didn't tell me to sit and shut up, so I'll say what I want to you. If you want to start something because of it, go ahead, but then you'd be disturbing their card game."

Using a precise choice of words, Tenshi manages to get Patchouli to not pursue the matter further, for at the moment even the worth of dealing with the Celestial was outweighed by the growth of Flandre's psyche. But even so, Patchouli could at least bring her herself to say to Tenshi after a sip of coffee from her mug "You're still as despicable as ever, Celestial." "I may not be pulling off as many pranks as I used to, but my tongue hasn't dulled in the slightest." Tenshi responds with a bit of pride in her voice.

As Patchouli peeks into her book to read a page she remarks "You? Done pulling off pranks? Hmph, yeah right. That is just as unlikely as the menreiki learning something." The librarian's disdain towards Kokoro was plain to Tenshi, but defending Kokoro would escalate the argument between her and Patchouli, and the card game seemed to be flowing too smoothly to even consider interrupting it.

Back with Kokoro, she found herself down to two cards, with the real Flandre having one left and the others having two left as well. "This is so much fun. There's such an air of mystery to this game, fufufu." The real Flandre says, before she goes for one of the flesh pastries on the plate at the center of the table. As Kokoro watches Flandre eat the pastry, she finds that she is reminded of what she planned to ask the little vampire today, something that was almost lost in everything else that has occurred so far.

But before she asked the question on her mind, there was another one that needed to be said first. "Flandre, how often do you go outside of the mansion?" Kokoro asks, and Flandre replies with a curious lift of her eyebrows "I have never gone outside the mansion in my life. Why do you ask?" The nonchalance in Flandre's response was rather concerning to Kokoro, who narrowed her eyelids before asking "P-Perhaps sometime, you and I can go outside, and I can show you other parts of Gensokyo?"

Flandre is shocked by Kokoro's inquiry, but as she hangs her eyelids low and prepares to respond Patchouli suddenly slams her book down on the arm of her chair and proclaims "That is absolutely out of the question!" Everyone then goes silent and looks at Patchouli, with the silence being broken by the Polite Flandre taking a drink of her tea and saying "I can see this not ending well…"

Kokoro glances at Patchouli and says to her "What's the problem with Flandre going outside? It's not fair that she is forced to stay inside of the mansion while everyone else gets to go out whenever they wish…" "There is a reason Lady Flandre is kept inside of the mansion, and there's absolutely no way either I nor Remilia will consider letting her outside." Pathcouli replies quickly, as though she prepared this defense long before this moment.

Kokoro lays one hand on her chest and says "But Remilia is able to go outside whenever she wants. How can she treat her younger sister like that? There's so much to see in Gensokyo, so much to hear, so much to eat…There is stuff out there that'd be much better for her than devouring human flesh in pastries." Kokoro brought up the subject that she wanted to mention from the start, and it was at that point that Patchouli began to lose her patience with the young menreiki as she got up from her chair, folded her arms against her chest and firmly said to her "You better listen to me when I say this to you, menreiki."

"You do NOT get to decide what's good or not for Lady Flandre. You've only known her for a few months, and your intelligence in such affairs is far below my own, so don't assume for a second that you understand what you're talking about either. Now, drop this subject." Patchouli, with little subtlety, attacked Kokoro's intelligence in such a bitter way that it made the menreiki sink her head and appeared ashamed for even trying to think.

But then, much to the surprise of Kokoro and the disbelief of Patchouli, Tenshi remarks "Now hold on a minute Patchouli. You haven't said why it's a bad idea for Flandre to go outside. I know vampires are weak to the sun, but I could've sworn Kokoro told me that the mistress of this mansion uses a parasol to protect herself. Can't Flandre be given one of her own?" Patchouli swings her body to glare at Tenshi midway through her sentence, telling the nonchalant Celestial once she was done "If the sun was our biggest concern, then I assure you that we never would've let the menreiki get close to Lady Flandre."

"Then what's the big deal? Seems like you're just making a fuss over this because you hate Kokoro." Tenshi says while closing her eyelids and shrugging her shoulders. Patchouli swings her right arm out and tells Tenshi off harshly by saying "My own personal feelings regarding you or the menreiki have nothing to do with this. If you cannot piece together why Lady Flandre is not allowed to go outside, then you're a fool and nothing more!" Tenshi opens her eyelids and avoids looking at Patchouli as she says to her "You're talking about her emotional instability, right?"

Tenshi then rises to her feet and gestures one hand out towards the table, saying to Patchouli "Seems to me like Flandre is handling herself just fine today. Her and Kokoro have been having a fun time playing a card game, and nothing was going bad until you started getting angry for no reason." Patchouli grits her teeth slightly, finding it absolutely incredible that the Celestial of all people was saying that she was in the wrong here, and in turn this caused her to remark "And just what makes you think that handling herself in front of one person will allow her to head outside the mansion?"

"Can't say I know the answer to that, because you haven't exactly been clear on just WHY it's a bad idea." Tenshi remarks nonchalantly, and Patchouli exclaims "And you think I will tell you the truth so you can manipulate Lady Flandre like you continue to do so with the menreiki?!" This comment got Kokoro to quickly get out of her chair and glare angrily at Patchouli, and with a harsh tone towards the librarian the menreiki held her right hand out and prepared to summon her pike "You will take that back, NOW!"

Tensions were mounting in the room as a brawl between Patchouli and the duo of Kokoro and Tenshi seemed inevitable, but the one who prevented the argument from reaching that point surprised the three of them. "Patchouli, I would like to request that you please stop trying to start a fight with our guests." It was the original Flandre, who was calmly holding onto a tea cup and taking a sip from it after everyone turned to look at her.

Patchouli said to her "Lady Flandre, with all due respect, it was not my intention to try and start a fight. The Celestial was the one who tried to escalate things!" Before the librarian can brandish an accusing finger at Tenshi, she suddenly breaks down coughing, a fit that lasts a few seconds as Kokoro tries to calm herself down before lowering her arms and turning to ask of Flandre "Flandre, what do YOU want to do?"

Flandre lowers her tea cup on the table and respectfully nods her head before saying "Kokoro, I know you mean well…But I've been in this mansion for a very long time, most of that being spent trapped in this basement. It doesn't concern me too much if I don't go see what's outside…" Though the vampire tried to project an image of being barely concerned, Kokoro sensed for a moment a twinge of sadness in Flandre's emotional state as she picked her tea cup up and took another sip. With a whisper, Kokoro widened her eyes and said "Flandre…You're lying to me, aren't you?"

This puzzled Kokoro, who tried to piece together just why Flandre would hide the truth of her desires from everyone here. But as she does this, Patchouli recovers from her earlier cough and promptly plops back down on her chair, a bitter look in her eyes towards Tenshi and Kokoro before she says "You heard Lady Flandre, menreiki, this is not something you are allowed to pursue any longer."

But what Patchouli didn't know is that Kokoro now had an even greater desire to pursue getting Flandre out of the mansion, but this desire was harmed by the lack of confidence the menreiki currently felt after listening to Patchouli's angered words. So long as the librarian acted as a presence in these meetings, there was no way that Kokoro felt she would be able to try and gently push Flandre towards wanting to go outside.

Kokoro looked towards Tenshi for some consoling in this matter, but the Celestial just shook her head as though to say not to bother trying anymore today. This idea was further backed when Patchouli let out a very tired sigh and said while rubbing the temples of her forehead "Forgive me, Lady Flandre, I know you have been enjoying your time here today, but I think after such a stressful moment it would be best to end this meeting."

"Yes, that would be fine with me. We can play 'Go Fish' another time, alright, Kokoro?" Flandre says, and Kokoro hung her head and replied with a nervous "Y-Yes…" Patchouli then quickly mentioned to the menreiki "You are to return tomorrow, menreiki. But the Celestial will not be allowed to come with you again, regardless of what Remilia said."

"Well, I know when I'm not wanted." Tenshi says with little care regarding Patchouli's words, and Patchouli says bluntly but quietly to her "No, no I don't think you do…" Patchouli then sighs, while Kokoro waves good-bye to Flandre and heads up the stairs with Tenshi a moment later. After the two climb the stairs to the top, Tenshi folds her arms behind her head and says "I really don't like that librarian. For all her talk about manipulation it seems she's making that Flandre person think that she can't go outside at all."

"…Flandre does want to go outside, though." Kokoro remarks quietly as she hangs her head and walks through the mansion with Tenshi. Tenshi tilts her head and says "Huh, seriously?" "I-I could sense it…But I don't know what to do about Patchouli…" Kokoro then lifted her head up with slightly widened eyes and remarked "…And I didn't end up helping Flandre at all today."

Kokoro feels very ashamed of herself as she then went on to mention "I yelled at mommy, I disobeyed her wishes, I couldn't help Flandre at all, I almost got into a fight…It feels like the whole world is crumbling down on me, Tenshi…" As the mask of melancholy floats around her head, Kokoro lets out a sigh, and Tenshi looks at her in a rather serious manner from behind for a few seconds before the two of them arrive at the entrance of the mansion.

At that point, Tenshi says "Kokoro, there's something I need to say to you before we leave the mansion." Kokoro turns herself around slowly and looks up at Tenshi, who instead of folding her arms against her chest like usual decided to lay her hands on top of Kokoro's shoulders before she went on to state bluntly "Sometimes you're going to have a really shitty day. Could be because of boredom, could be because you were emotionally scarred, but that's just an inevitability in life."

"Tenshi…" Kokoro didn't sound like she was feeling any better, but Tenshi quickly said to her "I'm not done yet Kokoro…The point I'm trying to get across here is this…Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good, and when you have a bad day you just have to try and make the next day better." "…Tenshi…I-I just don't want to lose everything…I don't want to be alone, without any friends or family…" Kokoro says as some tears begin to trickle down her stoic face.

"That's never going to happen Kokoro. Even if the rest of the world abandons you, I will always be here. That's just what a big sister does." Tenshi says with the utmost honesty sensed in her voice, and Kokoro remarks in a stuttered tone "A-Are you sure? What if I do something wrong against you?" Tenshi pulls her body back and rubs one finger under her nose while smirking and saying "Hey, you should know by now that I'm a really tolerating person. I'd be more impressed if you DID somehow piss me off rather than I would feel angered."

"…Tenshi." Kokoro calmly says the Celestial's name, and Tenshi says to her after "What's up?" "Thank you for saying that to me." Kokoro says, her mask switching to show joy for the first time in a while, which caused Tenshi to swing her right hand down before putting it back behind her head and saying "Can't say I'm very used to saying that type of stuff, but I'm glad you're feeling a little better now."

Kokoro then tries to extend her arms out for a hug, but Tenshi responds by taking her right hand and rustling the top of Kokoro's hair while remarking "I think we've had enough touchy-feely crap for one day Kokoro. How about we go up to Bhava-agra and eat some peaches, watching the stars until we fall asleep and wait for the next day to come?" "I think that would be nice." Kokoro says, and there was nothing else stopping the two from going out the front doors of the mansion and leaving to the sky…

Except the moment they leave the mansion, the two are completely surprised to find Miko standing at the gates, appearing to be in the middle of a conversation with Mei Ling. Kokoro and Tenshi, without saying a word, try to fly out of the area before Miko catches them, but Miko glances to the left and quickly remarks "Kokoro, I hope you aren't planning on running away again. Come here, it's time you had a talk with your father…"

_Next Time: A Relaxed Punishment_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Time for Tea and Reflection**

"Meep!" Kokoro blurts out in a moment of fright as she realizes that her adopted father Miko had noticed her. Tenshi was surprised as well, but her reaction was more subdued than that of Kokoro's in spite of the difference in emotion expression between them. "I'm surprised she knew you were coming here today." Tenshi remarks while rubbing one hand on her chin, whereas Kokoro thinks back to what she had done today and says "…Mommy must have told daddy about this."

Briefly widening her eyes, Tenshi says "Oh, so you made a mistake. Well, it can't be helped now." The Celestial then takes both of her hands to Kokoro's back and lightly nudges her forward, surprising the menreiki as she quickly glances back and says "Tenshi, what are you doing?" Tenshi looks at her and says "Honestly Kokoro, you'd be better off just getting this over with."

Kokoro plants her feet against the ground to prevent being moved forward while shaking her head and saying "I-I don't know what to say to my daddy…What if mommy is with her?" "I can assure you Kokoro, your mother is back at the temple." Miko says from behind the gate. Miko then taps her shaku against her chin and remarks with a grin on her face "And while I'm remembering this, it would be for the best if you came with Kokoro as well, Celestial."

Tenshi pokes her head up and looks at the Crown Prince, saying to her in a puzzled tone "Huh? Why do I need to come along?" "Because what I wish to talk to Kokoro about pertains to you as well." Miko immediately replies, and at that point Tenshi takes her hands off of Kokoro's back and puts them behind her head while stating with a scoff "Well you aren't MY dad, so I don't have to listen to you if I don't want to."

Miko calmly shrugs her shoulders, remarking to the Celestial a moment later "Well if that's what you wish to do, you can head back to Bhava-agra whenever you wish. But who knows, perhaps Kokoro will reveal something about you that will cause me and Hijiri to just come and visit you anyways." What Miko said caused Tenshi's face to freeze up with a look of shock, as she thinks to herself about how bad it would be if she were to be suddenly visited by the goody-two shoed Buddhist and the prying-eared Taoist.

Kokoro glances back at Tenshi, saying to her gently "Tenshi…Maybe we should just go with daddy. It's probably not going to be that bad…" Tenshi lets out a reluctant sounding sigh before remarking "…Now that you mention it, your 'daddy' is the more reasonable of your two adopted parents. If I can convince her that you aren't becoming a delinquent, that would solve a lot of your problems, right?"

"…Hmm…" Kokoro turns back and thinks to herself about the situation at hand, leading to her walking towards the gate a moment later. Before she opens it, Kokoro remarks while looking at Miko straight in the eyes "Daddy, can I say something before we go?" Miko nods her head and remarks "You know I'm always open to hearing what's on your mind."

Kokoro then says "…Please don't be too harsh on Tenshi. She didn't take me away from the Myouren Temple, I told her to come with me to here." Miko smiles and says to Kokoro "I believe you. And trust me, I have no intention of being even the slightest bit harsh to the Celestial." At that point, Mei Ling, who had been standing off the side of this gate in order to let the menreiki and her adopted father talk, suddenly pokes her head out to glance back and forth at the two of them with a worried look on her face before stating "Wait a second…Tenshi? As in the same Tenshi who caused that earthquake?"

Miko appeared somewhat surprise that Mei Ling was just now realizing that Tenshi had entered the mansion, and after glancing at her she inquired softly "How did they manage to trick you?" Mei Ling folds her arms together and thinks back, saying to Miko afterwards "Well, the Celestial said that she was Kokoro's older sister, and her name was Hata no Hina…nawi." Upon repeating the last name to herself, Mei Ling groans and says "I really am an idiot sometimes. Ugh, Lady Remilia is going to deck me for letting Tenshi inside the mansion…"

Miko had absolutely no comment on the mistake Mei Ling made. In fact, she was trying her hardest not to laugh, which made her face look rather unnatural compared to how composed she usually is. Her cheeks puff out for a moment, but thankfully no one notices her change in expression as Tenshi quickly pokes her head through the bars of the gate and says "Actually, Remilia was perfectly fine having me inside."

Though briefly surprised by Tenshi's sudden appearance in the conversation, Mei Ling was relieved to hear that she was not going to get in trouble for her mistake…Until Tenshi pulled out of the gate and said while shrugging her shoulders "Though your librarian was pretty pissed off at the fact that I was there." Just like that, Mei Ling's attitude did a complete 180, with her slapping the front of her forehead while remarking "I guess I just have to hope for the best at this point…I won't lose my job, but I'll be surprised if I'll be able to think straight after Patchouli lectures me."

"…Mei Ling, can you please open the gate so me and Tenshi can leave?" Kokoro inquires as she pokes her head through the bars, and Mei Ling quickly glances at her and says "…You do realize you can just fly out of here, right?" Kokoro merely blinks at Mei Ling in response, and the fact that she embarrassingly pulls her head back instead of saying anymore shows that she hadn't even considered that option.

Miko then looks at Mei Ling and bows her head, saying to her "It was a pleasure to have a conversation with you while I was waiting, Mei Ling. You and I should get together sometime and discuss more about ancient Chinese history." Mei Ling remarks respectfully afterwards "Well, you know where to find me. It's not often I get to talk about China with someone." Miko then turns away from the mansion and says "Come on you two, I'll take you to my home."

The three then fly off the ground, with the Crown Prince taking the lead through the skies of Gensokyo. The sun was still up, making the time about mid-afternoon, which caused Kokoro to remark along the way "…This has felt like a very long day. Daddy, what did mommy say to you?" Miko glances behind her left shoulder and says gently "I'll explain once we get to our destination. Though I will at least say that she told me you were planning on going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"And you went right there? That's pretty brave, going right towards a vampire's territory and all." Tenshi says sarcastically while she sits atop her keystone, but the Celestial is surprised when Miko replies calmly with "I do not fear the unknown. You can only learn from that which you do not know about. For example, by talking to the gatekeeper instead of trying to force my way inside, I learned that while she can sometimes aloof, she has a great deal of knowledge on Chinese culture."

Tenshi then rebuttals Miko's point by bluntly telling her "Yeah, but not knowing about something means you can't tell how dangerous it is. The vampire has means of going outside even during sunny days, so had she decided to attack you, what would you have done?" Miko calmly replies "That is why caution is something important to exercise when you wish to experience the unknown. A vampire could never get the jump on me, for I would be able to sense her desire to attack before she could even reach me."

"Besides…" Miko smiles and glances to the right at Tenshi, saying to her gently "The fact that you are alive shows that the vampire does not seek needless violence. And I could tell that you had not been attacked because the mansion showed no signs of a struggle, and I was not that far behind you both for any damage to have been repaired by the time I got there."

Once Miko was done explaining herself, Tenshi scowled slightly and said "You know, you may be more sensible than the Buddhist, but you are sensible to the point of being irritating to deal with." Tenshi's reaction caused Kokoro to quickly fly to her and nudge her at the side with her shoulder while remarking quietly "Tenshi, please try not to cause any trouble." But with her incredible hearing, Miko caught her adopted daughter's remark and said while chuckling lightly "I have no qualms with her comments. I would rather she be herself. Not to mention it'd take quite a lot for me to take things personally."

"Whatever you say pops." Tenshi remarks rather sarcastically, and then she folds her arms behind her head as Kokoro nudges her again without saying anything. After making sure she doesn't fall off the keystone from the nudge, Tenshi briefly glances at Kokoro before looking at Miko and asking "So where exactly are we going? I know you and the Buddhist don't live together, but I don't recall Kokoro ever telling me where YOU live."

Kokoro mutters out while glancing off to the side "…Well, you're going to find this silly…" Miko then quickly explains to the Celestial "Well you see, my current residence does not actually reside in Gensokyo, per say." Tenshi finds herself curious to know what Miko meant by that, and the Crown Prince can sense that desire and immediately says "Well, you will find out soon enough." Miko then gestures towards the ground before she descends.

The three land on the ground next to a giant, old cedar tree at the edge of the forest, and Miko walks up to the trunk while Tenshi sends her Keystone away and remarks in a puzzled tone "You live in a tree? I would've expected that from the tanuki." Miko turns herself around and says "You aren't too far off from the truth. For you see, we will reach my home by using a crack in this tree." With the most unexpected of responses from the Crown Prince, Tenshi's eyes immediately widen under Kokoro's notice, causing the menreiki to say dryly "…I knew this would happen."

"I guess I was wrong. You are not like the tanuki…You are more akin to an ant." Tenshi says in a tone of sharp surprise, but Miko merely finds humor in the remark as she says "You know, the shrine maiden said the same thing to me when I explained this process to her." The comparison made Tenshi scowl in slight annoyance, but Miko ignored the response as she took her shaku and extended her arm out to the side in order to tap one of the larger cracks on the tree.

Suddenly, the crack is filled with a magical energy that causes it to split open, creating a rift to another world right before the front of the tree. Miko then draws her shaku back and asks proudly "Are you impressed, Celestial?" Tenshi rubs the back of her head while glancing away from the rift and saying "I would be if I hadn't seen that gap hag pull off this trick before. Opening a gap in the middle of nowhere isn't that impressive."

"Ah, you refer to the one called Yukari, yes? Hmmm, I suppose I can see how my gap would be considered unimpressive if you compared them at face value, but the nature of our gaps are quite different." Miko, after that humble explanation, taps her shaku against her chin and explains "Yukari's gaps can only be opened by herself, and she can go wherever she pleases from what I have heard. The gaps to my sealed world Senkai, however, operate on a different set of rules. For one, anyone either human or youkai can enter the realm so long as they are aware of it's existence. Two, I can only create an entrance to Senkai in anything that qualifies as a crack that shouldn't exist, such as in the bark of a tree or a patch of dried ground."

"Hmm, so in the end it still is not as impressive as what the gap hag is capable of." Tenshi bluntly remarks right after Miko got done talking, and with a shrug of her shoulders Miko said "My intent was not to impress once you mentioned Yukari. All I wished was to instill you with some knowledge, as in to tie-in to our prior discussion about learning from the unknown. Now come, let us head to my Mausoleum."

Miko thus stepped into the gap she created, and Tenshi and Kokoro follow suit moments later. The realm had a foggy atmosphere to it, but it was more mystical than unnatural in it's nature. Otherwise, the only thing of note was that the ground was paved with perfectly crafted stone bricks, and that there currently wasn't any buildings in sight. "Pretty blank realm. I was expecting hundreds of statues made in your image and a grand golden palace stretching up into the heavens." Tenshi says in a dull tone as she looks around.

"Hmm, I think you perceive me as being a little more egotistical than I truly am. This realm is meant to be peaceful, where I can live out my time as a hermit. Though I suppose the trials of being a father to Kokoro are keeping me from being a hermit for the moment." Miko quickly glances behind herself to say assuredly to Kokoro afterwards "I mean no offense towards you for that, my adopted daughter."

"No, I get that…" Kokoro remarks, and afterwards Tenshi decides to quickly ask "Say Taoist, is there any particular reason you decided to put one of your entrances to this realm in a cedar tree?" "Hmmm, I suppose we have a bit of time before we get to the Mausoleum. Let me fill you with a little more knowledge then." Miko remarks, and after sheathing her shaku inside of her belt the Taoist turns around and looks at both of her guests.

Because of how well she knew the area, Miko was able to keep walking backwards as she starts to reminisce about times past before she tells the two her tale. "It was fourteen centuries ago in Yamanaka Onsen, Japan…During a trip to spread the teachings of Buddhism as part of my plan to bring peace to the land, I came across a cedar tree that was named Kayano Osugi. It was considered a sacred tree whose age was said to surpass even that of the gods. The truth of the matter, however, was that it was merely 700 years old at the time. But in the perception of the human mind, that type of age is enough to consider it an 'immortal' tree."

"Cedars have the potential to live for thousands of years, and I too wished to last just as long in this world. As such, by meeting the Kayano Osugi, I learned to respect the cedar trees, for they have the patience and dedication necessary to eventually be perceived as immortal in the human mind. And that is why I use a cedar tree as one of the entrance to my secret world." When Miko's explanation came to an end, Kokoro found herself entranced in fascination by the story, while Tenshi found herself questioning something in particular about the tale.

"…Why would you want to become immortal?" Tenshi inquires, and Miko chuckles before she replies "To surpass the fate designated to humanity by the higher order of the universe, of course." Tenshi looked confused by this answer, so Miko naturally said to her "Why should humans have to live only a set amount of time? That was something I asked myself at a very young age."

"So what you're saying is that you are trying to defy the natural order?" Tenshi remarks, and Miko says "More or less. But I do not mean any ill-will towards the creator of humanity by trying to become immortal, I can assure you that much. In the end, my final goal is to become a Celestial, which means one day you and I could end up living together in the same heaven, Hinanawi Tenshi." Miko found humor in this particular thought, but Tenshi's eyes widen in a horrified manner before she says sarcastically "Joy…"

Kokoro lets out a worried hum while glancing off to the side, causing Miko to remark with a smile "Do not worry Kokoro, it will probably be a while before I ever ascend. We'll spend plenty of time together in the meantime." This brightened Kokoro's mood, and she nodded her head appreciatively in response. By that point, Miko knew to turn around as the Mausoleum was close by. "Welcome, Celestial, to my Divine Spirit Mausoleum." Miko remarks.

Taking pause, Miko allows Tenshi and Kokoro to step ahead of where she stands so they can see the Mausoleum in all of it's glory. It was a building the size of the Myouren Temple, decorated with dragon and phoenix statues atop the bamboo-crafted roof. There were four small tower-like areas in the corners of the Mausoleum, and a stone gate at the front that led to the inner grounds of the temple.

"How did you build something like this?" Tenshi inquires as she sounds somewhat impressed by how the building looked. "With plenty of hard work, of course. Oh, and some assistance from Tojiko and Futo, can't forget their involvement." Speaking of Futo, the young shikaisen ends up walking out from the Mausoleum as Miko and her two guests begin to approach it. "Crown Prince! I see-eth that you have returned-eth!" Futo remarks with her strange dialect but respectful dialect before she bows her head slightly.

Miko in turn respectfully bows before lifting her head up and saying "We shall be having a couple guests with us tonight. Is the Mausoleum empty save for the few of us?" Futo replies while folding her arms into her puffy white sleeves "None have shown up here today, Crown Prince…" Futo slows down midway through her sentence upon glancing to the right and noticing the particular presence of Tenshi in the area, which causes her eyes to widen in sheer confusion for a few brief moments.

"…Crown Prince, may-eth I be so kind-eth as to ask just why the troublesome Celestial is with you?" Futo says, trying her best not to sound rude while simultaneously resisting the urge to set Tenshi's hair on fire. "There is a matter I need to discuss that involves her. As you can see, Kokoro is also with me today." "I will not question-eth your motives, Crown Prince, but please allow me the right to set-eth the Celestial aflame if she even considers causing trouble." Futo remarks begrudgingly.

"You need not worry about that, Futo." Miko says assuredly, and then with one hand laid against her chest she says "But what you can do for me is gather some tea leaves from the supply room and make at least one blend for each of us. I will take an Oolong one. How about you two?" Miko turns her head back to fish out answers from her two guests, and Kokoro respectfully says "I will take a white tea…"

"Black for me." Tenshi bluntly remarks while holding her arms behind her head. Miko then turns to Futo and says "I know you want to let the black tea become sour, Futo, but it would be very disappointing if you chose to do that. Just use the right temperature with your flames, and prepare everything perfectly. I will take Kokoro and the Celestial to my personal relaxation room, so that is where you will need to take the tea when you are done."

Futo pouts a bit at the thought of having to be nice to the Celestial after all she has done, but she could also not disobey the one she respected most in this world. As such, Futo only briefly stuck her tongue out at Tenshi before turning around and walking off to go make the three tea brews. Miko then guides her two guests past the stone gate of her temple and through the wide open temple grounds until she reaches the small building at the very back.

Inside of this building is a medium-sized glass table perfect for four people to sit around, and four regular chairs adorned with the glyphs of mythical Japanese creatures on the back. Miko sat on the chair with the phoenix symbol on it, and gently asked for Tenshi and Kokoro to sit on the chair with the dragon and fox respectively. The building, from the inside, could be seen having a cylindrical shape to it, but there was nothing to the place besides a couple windows near the door and a rather particular choice of Japanese symbols littered around the golden edge of the floor.

Once everyone was settled in their chairs, Miko laid her hands on her lap and explained to Tenshi "This is where I go whenever I feel the need to relax and think about times past. A docile room such as this will be perfect for what we are about to discuss." "So are we finally going to get down to business? Good, because it feels like it's taken us forever to get here, and Kokoro has probably been worrying about this conversation the whole time." Tenshi remarks bluntly as she lays her elbows against the table and glares at Miko.

"…I've been fine ever since we arrived in Senkai, Tenshi." Kokoro remarks quietly, followed by Tenshi glancing at her from the side of her face and saying "Oh yeah, I guess you'd feel more comfortable at a familiar location." "Y-Yes…Even though I don't come here nearly as often as I do go to mommy's temple." Kokoro replies nervously, as though she felt ashamed for not spending more time here.

"Well Kokoro, I don't want you to feel overwhelmed because of the disciples that show up here every now and then. And before you ask, Celestial, that will have to be explained another time. I feel as though I have dragged you on for long enough with the taste of curiosity, and I offer you my most sincere apologies for that." Miko says while laying one hand against her chest and bowing her head forward. "Glad to see we agree on that. So now you'll tell me what that Buddhist said, right?"

"Yes, that is only fair." Miko said before she brought her right hand up and gestured it out at Tenshi, saying in a rather serious tone "When Hijiri approached me this morning, she mentioned all that she knew about you and Kokoro, and her concerns that you were negatively influencing her development. I asked her if she have proof of such a thing, and then she went on to mention Kokoro's outburst towards her. Hijiri looked quite distraught when she told me of that, Kokoro…"

Miko takes a glance at the menreiki, not to force her to feel pity, but rather to gauge the reaction she would have. Kokoro hung her head and whispered out in an apologetic tone "…I'm so sorry, daddy…" Miko then looked back at Tenshi and went on to state "When I asked what Hijiri planned to do about this situation, she suggested that her and I head to Bhava-agra and reveal everything related to the last incident to the high Celestials, including how Tenshi nearly destroyed Gensokyo again in the process. Hijiri assumed that such news would force the Celestials to lock Tenshi away or banish her forever, leaving her to the mercy of the Shinigamis…"

"M-Mommy suggested that?" Kokoro said in a tone of slight surprise, and Tenshi herself freaked out for a moment as the face of a certain scythe wielding, red-haired Shinigami appeared in her mind. "But do not worry, I convinced her not to go for that option with two reasons. One, it was completely unlike her to even consider going that far, and that she was clearly not thinking straight because of it. Two, it likely wouldn't have worked out as expected." Miko explained to her worried guests, going on to state afterwards "After a bit of discussion while we walked back to the Myouren Temple, I came up with an idea on how to handle this whole ordeal."

"I think I know what you're talking about. You wanted to talk with me, didn't you?" Tenshi says after relaxing herself from the earlier scare. "Something along those lines. There are things I want to gauge from you." Miko replies, then going on to turn her head towards Tenshi and asking her gently "Tell me…What is Kokoro to you?"

Tenshi pauses in surprise at this question, even though she should have realized such a thing was coming. Noticing Tenshi's hesitation, Miko was about to say something when Futo walks into the room while balancing a plate with three hot cups of tea on it in her right hand. "Crown Prince, the tea is ready-eth." Futo says, and Miko clasps her hands together while bowing her head and remarking "Perfect timing, Futo. I appreciate your hard work. You can go ahead and make some tea for yourself now, and perhaps make one for Tojiko if she has returned from her business today."

Futo walks up to the table and gives the tea to the proper people, and after putting the plate under her right arm Futo bows and then departs without trying to pry in on the conversation. Everyone takes a moment to take a sip of their tea, and while Kokoro and Miko let out a merry sigh Tenshi twinged slightly as she felt a slight bitter taste in her tea. But afterwards Tenshi smiles and takes another sip of the tea, enjoying the bitterness as it makes her shiver in joy.

"You like your tea bitter? Hmm, then it's lucky for you that Futo decided not to listen to me." Miko says, following up by lowering her cup onto the table as Tenshi explains "Bitter is a good taste, at least for me. Anyways, where were we at?" Miko smiles and remarks with a gesture of her hand out "What is Kokoro to you?"

Now that Tenshi was reminded of the question with a gentle nudge from Miko, Tenshi raises her eyebrows for a moment before lowering her head and placing her cup on the table. Kokoro does the same thing with her cup, waiting to hear what Tenshi had to say. "I understand if this is hard for you to say, Celestial." "First things first, Taoist…Why are you being so friendly to me?" Miko lays one hand against her chest and smiles, having a rather docile expression before she explains "That is just in my nature. I do not care to hold a grudge against others, especially if they have not directly done wrong against me."

Tenshi, surprised by Miko's response, stares at her for a few moments before glancing at Kokoro as she worked out the answer she wanted to give. "…You have to promise not to tell anyone else exactly what I say to you, Taoist." Tenshi remarks while looking somewhat embarrassed, and Miko nods her head while saying "I will honor your request." "Very well…" Tenshi remarks, and with a firmer expression on her face she looks at Miko and has finally come up with an answer to her question.

"Kokoro is someone I want to protect. During the time where I was causing trouble with her powers, I came to realize just how confused and naïve Kokoro was. In a lot of ways, I saw my younger self reflected in the actions she took, and began to worry that she would end up going down the same path I ended up taking…As the tanuki once said to me, isolation and boredom gave birth to my mischievous mind, and if it weren't for my conflicted mind I could've prevented things from escalating as they did on the last day of the incident…"

"But Kokoro came to me a week after the incident ended, and we reconciled some of our issues and agreed to become sisters…For Kokoro's sake, I have tried my hardest not to lie to her or cause anymore incidents, even if the urges still exist inside me. But it seems I don't really have to worry about her being lonely anymore…She has you, the Buddhist and her followers, and that vampire's little sister along with myself."

Tenshi lays one hand on her chest and ends her explanation off by saying "Basically, if Kokoro is happy, then that makes me happy." Kokoro was touched by everything Tenshi said, and she muttered out her name as she could sense the honesty in Tenshi's voice. Miko seemed to do the same, as she said to Tenshi with an intrigued smile "To think that you had a nice side to you after all. Considering how much Kokoro was worried about what Hijiri and I would've done to you, I have no doubt that you are doing your job as an older sister splendidly."

"Don't think too much about it." Tenshi bluntly remarks with a bit of blush in her cheeks, causing Miko to chuckle gently before she looks at Kokoro and asks "What about you, Kokoro? What is Tenshi to you?" Kokoro had an easier time expressing her thoughts towards her adopted father as she immediately said "Tenshi is like an older sister to me…She may be rude to others, and sometimes doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut…But when it comes down to it…"

As Kokoro recalls the words Tenshi said to her inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she feels a warm sensation in her chest and places one hand on it while remarking "…She's a kind person. She has not negatively influenced me in any way." "I figured that much, Kokoro." Miko replies rather quickly, following up by sitting herself upright and stating "Then at this point, all you have to do is go talk with your mother and sort things out with her."

"Huh? But daddy, wasn't this whole talk meant to resolve all these problems?" Kokoro remarks in a moment of surprise, and with a chuckle Miko explains "I agreed to merely gauge Tenshi's relationship with you. After all, the Celestial cannot hide anything from my powers…But as your father, Kokoro, I have to tell you to go and apologize to your mother for yelling at her and leaving the temple grounds without her permission."

Though Miko was in essence reprimanding Kokoro for what she had done, she did so without raising her voice even a bit. "…I-I don't know if I'm ready to apologize yet…I hope you understand, daddy." Kokoro remarks while glancing to the left and having a blush on her face. Miko smiles and replies with an understanding nod of her head "I get that. You want your apology to be genuine. If you want, you can spend the night here at the Mausoleum for a few days until you're ready to say you're sorry."

"…Are you sure?" Kokoro asks, and Miko nods her head again and says "My place is your place, Kokoro. Surely it would be better than lying down on the ground in the Human Village." Kokoro felt a bit embarrassed to have that pointed out to her in front of Tenshi, but nonetheless appreciated the generosity her adopted father showed as she nodded her head and said "I-I guess I can spend at least one night here.'

"What about me? Am I allowed the same privilege or is that asking too much?" Tenshi inquires with a puzzled expression, and Miko says in turn "I hope I do not come off as rude when I say no to your request. You have your own home to return to, after all." Tenshi shrugs her shoulders and remarks "That's true, but just thought I'd ask. So what, do I just see myself out of your realm?"

Miko then gets off from her chair and takes her shaku out from her belt, tapping it against her chin while saying to the Celestial "Unfortunately, the flaw in my realm is that once you enter, only those who live here can open the way out. But I had already planned on going out and passing on the information of our conversation to Hijiri, so I will take you to the place where we entered from." "Well, guess that's all there is to it then!" Tenshi exclaims, proceeding to take one last taste of her bitter black tea before she kicked herself off the chair.

After turning herself around, Tenshi looked at Kokoro and said while comfortably folding her arms behind her head "Kind of wish we could've had a little more fun today Kokoro, but hey, at least all you got to do to get all this baggage off your shoulders is apologize to that Buddhist." Tenshi avoided bringing up the matter of what Kokoro wanted to do at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, something the menreiki thanked her for with a subtle nod of the head.

But Miko caught this nod and raised her eyebrows out of suspicion, leading to her then saying to Tenshi "Go on ahead, I wish to take one last sip of my tea before I join you." "Alright, alright…Kokoro, you be good now, ok?" Tenshi says in a concerned manner, and the menreiki replies by laying one hand on her chest and saying quietly "Thank you for helping me today, Tenshi…"

"Hey, I told you earlier, enough of the lovey-dovey bullshit…" Tenshi bluntly remarks, but after turning her head to hide her happy smirk she says "Aw never mind Kokoro, I'll probably see you tomorrow after you've sorted everything out." The Celestial then makes her way out of this small building, and Kokoro turns to Miko as the Taoist went on to inquire quietly "Kokoro, if there is anything else you want to get off of your mind, then I would be willing to listen when I get back."

Kokoro didn't seem too surprised that her father caught on to something else that was going on inside of her mind, but knowing what her father was like allowed her to sink her head slightly and say quietly "…No, I don't need to talk about anything else. I'm fine, daddy." Miko remarked after a momentary chuckle "Then that is something I will respect. I shall return here soon, so if you wish to go to sleep then you know where the guest room is, Kokoro."

Miko goes partway out of the door before she pauses in order to remark to her adopted daughter "…You're really lucky to have someone like Tenshi as your older sister. Out of all her desires, her desire to protect you is the strongest of them all. Forgive me for using my powers to intrude on your thoughts, but I had to make sure that the Celestial had not put you under mind-control." Miko then departed from the building, leaving Kokoro to let out a sigh of relief as she gets off of her chair and thinks to herself _"I'm sorry daddy…But I can't talk to you about Flandre…You wouldn't understand."_

Outside the Mausoleum, Tenshi glances back upon hearing footsteps approach her. After Miko catches up with her, Tenshi says "You know, I hope you don't take offense when I say that you and the tanuki are really weird people, ok?" Miko smiles as she stands beside Tenshi, inquiring as the two of them begin to walk towards the exit out of Senkai "Hehe, how so?" Tenshi lifts her head up and ruffles her lips into an awkward expression before saying "Compared to everyone else I've met in Gensokyo, you two are UNNATURALLY tolerant of others. Has there actually ever been a moment where you've lost control of yourself?"

"I cannot speak on the tanuki's behalf, but…" Miko opens her eyelids up and admits humbly as she lays her shaku against her chest "There have been a couple times in the past where I have shown my anger to another. There is no discipline strong enough to keep you calm against everything the universe tosses at you. But in the end it's always a matter of knowing when it's right to let your emotions burst forth and when it's not."

"…Hmm, I guess you have a point." Tenshi admits, and after a momentary pause Miko went on to mention "Before we leave Senkai, there's just one last thing I want to say to you, Tenshi Hinanawi." Tenshi glances to the side, and after making sure that the Celestial was paying full attention Miko glared at her and said in a rather serious tone of voice "Since you desire to protect Kokoro, then it would be in hers and your best interests if she watches herself around the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"…You sensed her desire to help the owner's little sister, didn't you?" Tenshi remarks in a rather unsurprised tone, and after Miko nods her head she stops in place before a small slit in the realm. Taking her shaku to the slit allows it to open up, revealing that night has begun to fall on Gensokyo. Tenshi and Miko looked at each other, and with her eyebrows slanting Miko advises while hiding her smile behind her shaku "Like you said, Kokoro is understandably young and naïve…And the residents of that mansion are too dangerous to risk her screwing things up with them. Make sure she makes the right choices with the little sister, or…"

"You'll make sure to implement that punishment the Buddhist suggested, right?" Tenshi didn't even have to let Miko spell things out for her, and after nodding her head the Celestial laid her arms beside her hips and gestured out with one hand before stating "I'm not going to let that librarian or vampire harm her." "Then we have nothing else to discuss for the moment…" Miko says, and with an agreement shared by Tenshi all that remained for the time was for the two to depart from Senkai. Tenshi took a keystone and rode back to Bhava-agra, while Miko took flight to head for the Myouren Temple in order to tell Byakuren the good news…

_Next Time: iakuoy suouiretsym ehT_

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**

Due to some stress from working on two stories at the same time combined with other stuff, I'm going to be taking a week break from Empathetic Masquerade so I can work on finishing up the other story. Thankfully, we're at the halfway point for this story so it's not like I'm choosing an awkward time to take a break here...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Reverse Empathy I: The Reclusive Youkai**

Kokoro enjoyed her sleep within her adopted father's Mausoleum, and Miko made sure that nothing disturbed her throughout the entire night once she got back from the Myouren Temple. Miko herself didn't sleep, as she felt the need to think about everything she had gone through today. Sitting in the middle of her Mausoleum on the stone cold floor with her legs crossed and her shaku laying atop her skirt, Miko had her eyelids closed as her realm of Senkai continued to maintain it's bright but foggy atmosphere.

"_The meeting with Hijiri went well…She was a little more rational after she relaxed herself, and I'm glad that Kokoro won't be punished…Fufufu, the Celestial was quite an entertaining guest, too. I will be looking forward to the day I ascend to Bhava-agra if someone like her will be there to talk with." _As Miko thinks back to her conversation with Tenshi, she senses someone approaching her from behind and slowly starts to go for her sword as she finds herself not sensing any desires from the person.

As she cracked her eyelids open slightly, she waited until the person was only a few feet away before drawing her sword and pointing it back behind her while remarking "Who goes there?" in a rather serious tone. "Crown Prince, 'tis only I, Futo!" Futo quickly and urgently proclaims as she finds the sword pointed at her chin. Miko doesn't waste time in sheathing her sword with grace and dexterity, placing her hands back on her kneecaps as she smiles and says "Forgive me for mistaking you for a foe, Futo. But you should know better than to approach me without a desire on your mind."

"I feel that shouldn't be necessary-eth at this point." Futo says after letting out an exasperated sigh, and as Futo balances herself on one foot and folds her arms into her sleeve Miko says to her "So, is something troubling you, Futo?" "Quite a lot, Crown Prince." Futo honestly remarks, and with a brief chuckle Miko says to her "I have plenty of time on my plate, Futo…Ask away."

Futo slants her eyebrows a bit and remarks "That joke was not very funny-eth…But nevertheless, I am really confused about your decisions lately, Crown Prince." "Oh? Care to explain?" Miko inquires with the utmost curiosity in her voice and a smile on her expression. Futo glances up and crumples her lips before she explains "Associating with those Buddhists, helping that menreiki Youkai, allowing that delinquent-eth into your realm…I guess I just don't understand your intentions, Crown Prince."

Miko raises one hand into the air and folds in all fingers but the pointer before stating to Futo "Hijiri and I share a common goal in wanting to help Kokoro out…Plus while there may differences in the religions we follow, a part of me really admires the strength of Hijiri's convictions, even if it is not fitting for Youkai to become Buddhists. As for Kokoro, I feel responsible for the trouble she had caused because she didn't have the right type of people helping her out. Futo, do you remember Hata no Kawakatsu?"

"…That's the man you crafted 66-masks for." Futo remembering the numbering specifically causes her to flinch, and Miko smiles and remarks "And those 66-masks eventually took the form of the tsukumogami Hata no Kokoro. When you think about it, the fact that I was chosen to be Kokoro's surrogate father in this modern age seems to be an act of destiny, wouldn't you agree?" "I suppose so. But what about that delinquent Celestial?" Futo inquires.

"They say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, Futo, but I personally do not believe in such an idiom. You can never learn everything about a person the first time you see them. Every person is unique in their own right, and you can only learn about what makes them unique if you get to know them better through conversations and the like. Think back to the first time I met you, Futo, and perhaps that will help motivate you to try and ignite a conversation with the Celestial the next time you see her."

"…I mean no disrespect when I say this, Crown Prince, but I would rather pull-eth out my tongue than ever deal-eth with that Celestial." Futo says bluntly, and Miko chuckles before saying to her "If that's how you want to handle that, then go for it. I am not forcing you to like her, instead I am just offering some of my infinite wisdom, Futo." "Verily well, Crown Prince. Then is there anything else you require of me?" Futo inquires.

Miko glances back and says "When morning comes, could you perhaps handle breakfast for Kokoro? I think a bowl of fried rice with eggs, pork, and a hint of soy sauce will be more than satisfactory for her." "Hmm, I suppose I could feed-eth the young menreiki. She does not get much meat-eth, does she?" Futo asks, and Miko quickly says to her as she looks back ahead "Hijiri chooses to feed her vegetables and tea to avoid feeding Kokoro's youkai nature, but at the same time Hijiri doesn't seem to be aware that Kokoro does not desire to consume humans."

"That seems quite odd for a Youkai, wouldn't you say?" Futo remarks, and surprisingly Miko does not have anything to say on the matter as she finds herself intrigued by what Futo said. Tilting her head, Futo says "Crown Prince?" to try and get her attention, and Miko glances back behind her right shoulder and says "Sorry, I was thinking about something. There is one last thing I want to ask before you go, Futo."

"Yes?" Futo says with anticipation in her voice, and Miko remarks in a rather serious voice "Have you heard anything from Tojiko recently in regards to that fugitive?" "That fugitive youkai? No…I have heard-eth nothing from Tojiko, sorry. I hope that she is alright." Futo says, feeling a bit of concern for her fellow Taoist in the process. "Tojiko can handle herself just fine…Though considering the perpetrator in question, your concern is quite justified, Futo." Miko says.

"I plan to see Kokoro off tomorrow, so I will also go out and make sure that Tojiko has not run into too much trouble. Once that youkai is found, then I will be sure to punish her for all the trouble she has caused." Miko remarks, and Futo says to her right after "Only if I get a chance to burn-eth her rear for humiliating me back then!" The vindictiveness in Futo's voice was clear as day, and Miko said to her without hesitation "Of course."

"By the way, you should probably get to work making Kokoro's breakfast. Morning has almost arrived." Miko remarks with a smile on her face, and Futo flinches before remarking "It is almost morning?! The night fly-eth by fast, indeed!" Futo then bowed respectfully towards Miko and dashed off to make the rice bowl for Kokoro, while Miko lifts her eyelids open slightly and remarks "…I wonder just how much the Tanuki has taken Kokoro's odd actions as a Youkai into consideration…"

Back with Kokoro, we find her lying atop a thin mattress within a room protected by wooden shutters. Laid over her is a fleece blanket that had a floral pattern resembling the flower Miko summons in her spell cards. Kokoro's arms were laid beside her head, and her mouth was slightly agape with some drool trickling out to show how content she was feeling in the depths of her sleep. The drool dropped onto the pillow Kokoro's head rested on, but never got close enough for Kokoro to notice.

A few minutes later, the shutter is pushed open, with Futo walking into the room while using one hand to balance a steaming bowl of rice atop one of her clay red plates. Seeing the serene, drooling Kokoro, Futo quickly exclaims "Awaken, menreiki! Breakfast has come-eth!" Kokoro suddenly snaps awake, the drool not coming out anymore as she lifts her head up and smacks her lips, letting out a yawn afterwards before she slowly turns her head to look at Futo and say "…Could you be a little more quiet when waking someone up?"

"Would you rather be awoken by the cacaws of a rooster-eth?" Futo remarks in a rather snide tone with a rather irritated look in her eyes. "…I was just enjoying my sleep, that's all…" Kokoro says in a tired tone, and after she lets out a little yawn Futo finds herself feeling a tiny, TINY bit guilty for forcibly waking Kokoro up, especially after all Kokoro seemed to have to deal with yesterday. As such, Futo walks to the side of Kokoro's small bed and sits down, holding her plate out close enough that the steam from the top of the rice rises up into Kokoro's nostrils. "Here…I made this myself-eth…" Futo remarks while glancing off to the side and puffing her cheeks in a flustered manner.

"…Pork and rice?" Kokoro says in a puzzled tone, with Futo remarking "My Crown Prince told me that you might like-eth this for breakfast. It also has some soy sauce." With Kokoro's stomach grumbling, the menreiki realizes that she hadn't eaten anything since the sweet pastries at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and without hesitation she takes the plate from Futo's hand and lays it atop her lap so she can use the chopsticks given to her on the plate to start eating from the bowl.

Kokoro blows on the food she plucks from the bowl before consuming it, and the joy can be seen on the mask summoned beside her a moment later. Futo looks back, amazed at how quickly Kokoro was going through the rice bowl. "I-I didn't think you were that hungry-eth, Kokoro." Futo remarks, and this was enough to make Kokoro stop eating for a moment and nod her head in an appreciative tone before stating "This is very good. Thank you, Futo."

Proudly looking at the menreiki, Futo proclaimed "Of course! I learned how to cook from none other than the Crown Prince herself!" With her head held up smugly, Futo doesn't realize that Kokoro had already gone back to devouring her rice bowl until a few seconds later. To say that Futo was irritated by Kokoro ignoring her boast was an understatement, but though Futo puffed her cheeks and looked steamed she didn't say anything else to Kokoro for the time being.

Kokoro went through the rice bowl after another minute, and when she was done she placed the chopsticks into the bowl itself and placed her hands together while remarking in a way meant to express appreciation "Thank you again, Futo. That was a great breakfast." Futo, glancing at Kokoro, inquired to her "You are quite good with the chopsticks. Who taught you?" "Mommy did. She said that it's proper manners to learn how to use chopsticks when eating your food…" Though Kokoro quickly responded, thinking about Byakuren caused her to remember what she had to do today.

"Huh…Well that Buddhist is definitely not wrong-eth there." Futo hesitantly admits before noticing Kokoro hanging her head low, at which point she asks "Are you alright?" "…Today I need to go apologize to mommy." Kokoro quickly mentions, and Futo raises her eyebrows while saying to her "Are you prepared to do such a daunting task-eth? My Crown Prince said-eth that you are allowed to stay until you are ready-eth."

Kokoro shakes her head quickly before saying "No, no…I shouldn't hold off on this. I owe mom a swift and honest apology." "If that is what you wish-eth…" Futo remarks, leading to Kokoro glancing at her and asking "Futo…Did you ever have a mother?" Futo was quite surprised by this inquiry, her eyelids blinking a couple seconds before she says "Of course I did…Back when I was not a shikaisen, anyways."

"What was she like?" Kokoro pondered as she tilted her head to the left. Futo wanted to answer Kokoro's question quickly, but finds herself looking rather distressed as she admits "…I honestly don't remember much about her. It's been so long, I can't even remember her full name…" Kokoro looks at Futo with a somewhat pitying glance, and this flustered Futo to the point where she quickly rises to her feet and proclaims "I did not come-eth here to speak of my history-eth! If you are done with your breakfast-eth, then I will take back my plate-eth!" Futo thrusts her right hand out with a blush on her face, and with a bit of a blinking pause Kokoro gives Futo back her plate.

Futo swipes it from Kokoro's grasp and says "Thank you!" rather forcibly, followed by Kokoro saying to her without a care for how flustered she was "If you ever do want to talk about your past though…I would like to listen." Futo proclaims immediately with her face now mostly red of embarrassment "Just forget-eth about it! Go see that Buddhist already!" Before Kokoro could mention anything else to her, Futo turns around and tries to leave the room, only to run right into the sliding door and fall onto her back, which causes the plate that was in her hand to shatter.

Kokoro quickly gets up and runs over to Futo, offering her hand to help her up while asking "Are you ok?" Futo, while rubbing her forehead with both of her hands, remarks "Perhaps-eth I will just go lie down after this…" and then allows Kokoro to lift her up so she can go do exactly as she said she would. After that, nothing stopped Kokoro from leaving the Mausoleum, especially now that she was full of food. Though at the very least, Kokoro was going to say goodbye to her father, and thank her for the hospitality she gave her and Tenshi yesterday.

Thankfully, Miko was standing at the entrance to the Mausoleum, leaning against one of the doors with her shaku leaned against her chin and her famous cape blowing past the sides of her body, even though there was no wind in this realm. "Daddy…" Kokoro remarks as she stops in place for a moment, and with a smile Miko says to her without moving away from the door "I figured you'd leave after the first night, Kokoro…Have you figured out what you're going to say to your mother?"

Kokoro nodded her head confidently, and even without her eyes open Miko knew that a head nod was exactly the response Kokoro gave to that question. Pulling herself away from the door with a push of her right foot, Miko turned her head towards Kokoro and said to her "Then I need not say anymore regarding that. But I hope you do not mind if I guide you out of the Senkai. I have some business I must attend to in the Human Village." As Miko stands directly in front of Kokoro, the menreiki lays one finger on her chin and says "Well, I can't leave here without your help anyways, daddy."

"Fufufu, that is quite true. Perhaps one day I will tell you the secret to leaving this realm on your own, Kokoro." Miko says, extending her hand out in front of her before following up with "Now then, shall we head-off?" Kokoro walked over to her adopted father after a tiny nod of her head, and the two departed away from the Mausoleum. Along the way to the exit of this realm, Kokoro said "The meal you suggested Futo make was great. Thank you, daddy…"

"Hahaha…What type of prince would I be if I did not know the needs of my children and subjects? You are a growing girl, Kokoro, and while there is nothing wrong with the food Hijiri has likely given you, it's always wise to add a little meat and grains to your diet to balance things out." Miko remarks in her wise tone as she wiggles her right pointer finger in front of her chest. "And then I can become big and strong like you and mommy." Kokoro says in the most stoically innocent of tones, which made Miko crack a wide smile in response.

After Miko subtly chuckles, Kokoro looks at her and asks "So…Where is Tojiko? I noticed she wasn't in the Mausoleum at all." To quickly make sure that Kokoro wouldn't know what the ghost Taoist was up to, Miko explained "That is why I'm going to the Human Village. Tojiko needs me to help her out with something there." "Then please give her my regards. She is like Shou at mommy's temple in that I don't get to see her often…" Kokoro says while laying one hand on her chest and bowing respectfully.

"I will make sure to do that." Miko remarks as she raises her shaku to the air and opens the way out of Senkai, where the sky of Gensokyo is shown to be somewhat foggy, though there was the glint of the sun to ensure that things would eventually get nicer out. After Kokoro and Miko step out of the gap to Senkai, Kokoro turns around and says to her father "When will I see you again, daddy?" Miko pats Kokoro on the head while keeping a bright smile before saying to her "It won't be too long. You might even see me again today, depending on how things go with Tojiko."

Once Miko pulls her hand away, Kokoro looks up at her with her mask of joy beside her face before remarking "I'll probably be at mommy's temple for most of the day…I do have to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion again though, but I don't know if I want to after yesterday…" Joy turns to melancholy for Kokoro, but Miko wisely advises "If you do not feel comfortable going to that mansion at the moment, then it would be best to wait a couple days and see if you feel comfortable then."

Kokoro nods her head, agreeing with the idea physically even though her thoughts consisted of _"I just hope Patchouli will understand if I don't show up…I'm sorry Flandre, but I need to take a bit of a break from the mansion…" _Without expressing a desire, Kokoro knew her thoughts wouldn't be read by Miko, and the Taoist showed that she didn't know anything by looking at Kokoro and saying to her with a humored expression "Now then, I best not hold you up anymore, Kokoro."

With Miko's approval to depart, Kokoro takes to the sky and starts to fly in the direction of the Myouren Temple after getting her bearings. Once Miko was certain that Kokoro was far enough away, the Taoist's expression became a little more serious as she glanced around herself and remarked "Alright Tojiko…Where have you gone?" Keeping one hand close to the handle of her sword, Miko advanced into the forest behind her after sealing the way to Senkai.

Back with Kokoro, she was busy slowly advancing towards the Myouren Temple, cause even though she had thought out an apology for Byakuren by this point, there was still the matter of her needing to overcome the grip of hesitation on her mind. Kokoro hung her head, causing her to look at the ground as she poked her pointer fingers together nervously, murmuring to herself "Just take a deep breath Kokoro…You'll do fine."

Lifting her head back up, Kokoro opened her mouth to follow her own advice, but even once she let the air out she still couldn't suppress the stress plaguing her mind. The very concept of having to apologize was not something Kokoro was unfamiliar with, but it was the fact that she had to apologize to her mother, the person who Kokoro held up as the epitome of politeness and purity in all of Gensokyo.

"…Maybe I held mommy up on too high of a pedestal…" Kokoro admits, especially after what her father mentioned in regards to Byakuren's idea of a punishment for Tenshi. The more thought about it, the more Kokoro wondered if an apology alone was going to be enough for her mother. "…Perhaps I should try and bring mommy a simple gift to make her feel a little better. But what would she like?" Kokoro takes pause for a moment in the middle of the sky, realizing she was only just a couple minutes away from the Myouren Temple at this point.

"…I can make a detour into the forest. Maybe there will be some flowers I can pick for mommy." Kokoro says before descending past the branches and leaves on the trees and landing in the middle of the forest. Kokoro then turned around and decided to go back the way she came to see if she can find some flowers there. After a brief walk through the forest, Kokoro hears a rather pained groan coming from up ahead, and with her eyebrows raised in curiosity she quietly remarked "What was that noise?"

After the groan was heard again, Kokoro moved in the direction of it, shuffling aside a couple of thick bushes until she runs across the source of the noise. Barely standing on the ground was a person bundled tightly in a brown cloak. Her hands were used to hold the cloak together, and the cloak itself was big enough to cover all of her body except for the bottom of her face and top of her neck. From Kokoro's point of view, this person had some burn marks on her skin that seemed to be recently inflicted, and it wasn't going to be long before she collapsed.

Kokoro quickly kneeled down in front of this person and asked "Are you ok?" After the person coughs out some smoke, they say in a groggy sounding, feminine voice "…Who the hell…are you?" The choice of words was particularly odd, but Kokoro just assumed that this person had just gone through a bad experience and was reacting based off that. Laying one hand against her chest and extending the other one out, Kokoro says "I am Hata no Kokoro…What is your name?"

"Hata no Kokoro…The mask-wearing tsukumogami? …My name isn't important…But I am a Youkai, that much I can tell you…" Kokoro then tries to reach towards the Youkai's cloak while remarking "Can I at least see your face?" But the Youkai suddenly pulls back on her body to reject Kokoro's advance, bluntly telling her "NO!" Which caught Kokoro entirely off-guard until the Youkai stuttered and explained "I-I've been burned by the lightning of a witch…I look terrible right now…Just forget about me, Kokoro…"

Though this Youkai was rejecting Kokoro's presence, the menreiki knew that she couldn't just abandon this person in their time of need. It was then that Kokoro experienced a moment of selfishness within her selflessness, as she realized that helping this Youkai would be the best possible gift she could give to her mother. Kokoro thus insisted to the Youkai "Please let me help you out. I can take you to someone who can heal you up."

"You don't need to…" The Youkai tries to dissuade the effort, but Kokoro raises her voice slightly and says "You need to be healed! If I take you to the Myouren Temple, then you will be fine in no time!" It was only when the name of the temple was mentioned that the Youkai lifted her head up slightly and whispered out "Myouren Temple…?" Suddenly, the Youkai starts to burst into laughter, though the laughter is mixed in with some brief tears coming from her as she hangs her head and hides a fanged smirk.

"A-Are you ok?" Kokoro inquires, and the Youkai responds by lifting her head up and saying with a neutral expression "It has been so long since someone cared for me…Ok, I will take you up on your offer, Kokoro…" The Youkai then lifts her right hand up while using the other one to keep her cloak on, where Kokoro then grabs onto the Youkai's hand and helps lift her onto her feet. With Kokoro turning around and holding her hand behind her to keep the Youkai up on her feet, the two start to advance through the forest, with the Youkai smirking under her cloak while thinking to herself _"All too easy…"_

As Kokoro and this totally mysterious Youkai make their way through the forest towards the Myouren Temple, Kokoro would not realize that she completely failed to notice another presence a few feet away. Lying on the ground all battered and bruised in spite of her ghastly nature was the green-haired, green-dressed Tojiko. Tojiko groaned while laying one hand on her chest and her wispy legs spread out past the edge of her dress. There were a few scratch marks on her face from a struggle, and she could barely creak her eyelids open while she remarked "I…I failed…"

It wasn't long though before Miko came across Tojiko's body after urgently slashing away at a couple of bushes to reach her. Sheathing her blade, Miko's eyes widened in a moment of panic before she kneeled down and lifted Tojiko lightweight body up off the ground and asked "Tojiko…What happened to you?" Tojiko held one hand out weakly and said "C-Crown Prince…Forgive me…I could not stop…the amanojaku…"

The tears that stem from Tojiko's eyes after that remark come not from the pain in her body, but rather the regret she felt towards failing Miko. Miko shook her head and said "Do not worry about your failure, Tojiko…Did you at least find out where the amanojaku might be heading next?" "She said…She planned to raid the Myouren Temple…" Tojiko remarked, and after hoisting her comrade's body up into her arms and standing upright Miko said "I shall quickly take you back to Senkai so Futo can heal you up, and then I will go warn Hijiri about the amanojaku."

"D-Don't worry about me, Crown Prince…" Embarrassed to be a burden, Tojiko turns her head aside to look away from Miko, but Miko smiles and says to her "I would be a terrible ruler if I did not take care of my comrades. If you at least damaged the amanojaku, then I have time to take you back to the Mausoleum first before dealing with her." Tojiko knew that the Crown Prince wouldn't give up on her, and thus silenced herself and allowed Miko to carry her back to Senkai…

Back with Kokoro, she has managed to guide the MYSTERIOUS YOUKAI out of the forest, ending up at the front of the Myouren Temple. As the two head through the front gate, Kokoro remarks "Here we are…My mommy's temple." The Youkai looked up for a moment and grinned, thinking to herself _"Oh, what wonderful things will I find inside of you?" _But then quickly hung her head back down when Kokoro glanced back at her and asked "How are you feeling right now?"

"I-I think I can stand on my own…So are you going to get that person to heal me or what?" The Youkai said with a bit of impatience in her voice, and Kokoro nodded her head and said "Let me try to find my mommy…She can heal you easily." After letting go of the Youkai, Kokoro looks around for anyone familiar, and is addressed from afar by Byakuren after a few seconds of searching. "Kokoro…I see you have returned at last."

Kokoro looks to the right and sees Byakuren slowly walking towards her with hands folded in front of her waist and an awkward look on her face. Beside her was Ichirin and Unzan, who both focused their glances on the cloaked Youkai standing behind Kokoro at the moment and thought something seemed up about the Youkai in particular. Byakuren stopped a few feet away from Kokoro, glancing down at her as Kokoro looked up to meet her gaze. Both had no words for each other at the moment, preferring to glance away while murmuring to themselves.

With one hand raised before her lips, Byakuren lets out a single embarrassed "Umm…" while Kokoro places one fist against her chest and says the same. Kokoro then starts the conversation properly by stepping to the side and revealing the cloaked Youkai to Byakuren, saying in a quiet manner "…This Youkai needs help. I brought her here so you can heal her…" Byakuren glances at the Youkai in question and noticed the burn mark on her skin, her protective instincts kicking in as she gasps and says "What could have done this to you?"

Walking over to the Youkai, Byakuren kneels before her and extends both of her hands out, with the Youkai covering her face up further, which Byakuren interprets as a sign of distrust. With her warm smile coming into view, Byakuren retracts one hand while keeping the other one out, saying to the Youkai "It's all right. You are safe here now. Do you feel ok at least telling me what hurt you?" The Youkai said "…It was a witch that hurt me…Aren't you a witch as well? I heard that you trick Youkai with magic into joining your temple…"

Byakuren blinked a couple times before admitting with an honest expression "I guess you could say I'm like a witch, but that is a relatively tame thing to call me compared to what else I've heard. If it makes you feel any better though, I can say that I am a good witch. Here, let me show you…" Putting both of her hands out, Byakuren began to recite a spell that she had memorized from her scroll, and her hands radiated with a holy light that spread out across the Youkai's body.

The Youkai twitched a bit, but stopped once she felt the wounds on her body slowly fade away. It didn't take long for Byakuren to finish, and as she withdrew her hands and laid them on her kneecaps she said to the Youkai "There…All better." The Youkai was surprised by Byakuren's healing magic, especially with how effective it was. "Thank you." The Youkai said quickly but quietly, and with that Byakuren remarked "I'm always glad to help Youkai in need. Since you are here…Would you like to stay around for a bit?"

As the Youkai smirks underneath her hood, she says "…I could use something warmer to wear…" Rising upright, Byakuren turns slightly and extends a hand out towards Ichirin, asking her politely "Could you please take our guest inside and get her some warmer clothes?" "Absolutely, Lady Byakuren." Ichirin remarks with a bow of her head, and after walking over to the Youkai Ichirin holds one hand out and says "Follow me, Mrs…?"

"Oh…Just call me Ajies." The Youkai admits quietly, and respectfully Ichirin pulls her hand back and says "Ok, Mrs. Ajies. Here we go." Ichirin and the Youkai then move for the temple stairs, with Byakuren and Kokoro looking on for a few seconds until they enter through the front doors. Afterwards, Byakuren turned to face Kokoro and returned to her awkward expression, sighing before admitting "…Kokoro, you brought that Youkai here to apologize to me for yesterday, didn't you?"

Kokoro said in response "…Yes." While hanging her head as though she needed to feel ashamed for her intentions. Byakuren lays her hands down in front of her waist again and smiles halfway, saying to her adopted daughter "Oh Kokoro…You didn't have to go that far to apologize. I mean, you did run off after yelling at me, but I shouldn't have been so harsh towards you in the first place…" Kokoro shakes her head and says "You were just concerned about me, mommy…And I didn't react appropriately."

"Well of course I was concerned about you. You're young, Kokoro…And I don't want you to go down the wrong path in life. But maybe I was trying too hard to keep you safe, and you felt restricted by that and thought to rebel against me in order to get more freedom…" Byakuren admits while laying one hand against the side of her face, but Kokoro swings her right hand out and proclaims stoically "That's not true! I just wanted you to trust me when it came to Tenshi…"

Byakuren flinched, her expression become a little more somber before she remarked "…Ah yes, the Celestial…Kokoro, let it be known that after what your father told me last night, I no longer doubt that she is a negative influence towards you. But even so…" After laying her arms back down in front of her waist, Byakuren smiled lightly and admitted "That doesn't mean I think it's a good idea for her to come around here. Miko told me that the Celestial still has a bit of a mouth to her, and I worry about her influencing the others here. If you wish to meet with the Celestial anywhere else, I will have no objections, ok?"

Though Kokoro was somewhat disappointed by the limitations, the fact that there was no further need to distress over Tenshi's standing with Byakuren made Kokoro nod her head appreciatively before stating politely "T-Thank you, mommy." After a pause between mother and daughter, Byakuren raised one hand below her lips and said with a reminiscing expression "You know, if I must be honest, one of the reasons I was being so strict is-"

Before Byakuren can get her words out, an explosion coming from within the Myouren Temple snaps hers and Kokoro's attention towards the place, where they find smoke rising from a hole in the roof and both Ichirin and Unzan flying right out. Unzan was conscious enough to grab Ichirin in both hands before she hit the ground. Unzan quickly moved down and ended up in front of the stairs, where Byakuren runs over to check up on Ichirin, who had a few tatters on her clothes but was otherwise just dazed from whatever went off in the temple.

"Ichirin, what happened in there? And where is that cloaked Youkai?" Byakuren asks in an urgent tone of concern as she reaches out for Ichirin to try and check on her body's condition. But Ichirin reaches out with her right hand and grabs Byakuren's before she can do so, her teeth grit in fury as she says to Byakuren "That Youkai…That was Seija Kijin!" Byakuren's expression immediately turned to one of surprise and fright, and without hesitation she turned towards her temple and leaped at the hole in the ceiling her superhuman strength leaving some cracks in the ground as her speed allows her to enter the temple in two seconds flat.

Kokoro ran forward, surprised by her mother's hasty response as Ichirin remarked to her "I-I can't believe I didn't recognize that Youkai as the amanojaku sooner…Kokoro, you need to go help Lady Byakuren out, quickly!" The menreiki then lifts off the ground a bit, but says to Ichirin "D-Did I do something wrong? Mommy seems so worried…" "Don't worry about it, that Youkai did a really good job hiding herself from us! Just stop her before she causes any trouble!" Ichirin remarks quickly, coughing afterwards as the damage to her body started to catch up a bit.

Kokoro then flew into the temple, landing on the broken boards that Byakuren created when she entered and immediately flying through the halls to find her adopted mother, wondering just why she was so worried about the Youkai called Seija. After a bit of moving about, Kokoro turned her head to the left and saw Byakuren inside of a room consisting of treasures that Shou and Nazrin had collected over the years. The door had been busted down with a bomb, as evidenced by the soot on the floor and the splinters of wood spread about in the gold, but it didn't seem like anything else was touched at a first glance.

Byakuren stood at the opposite side of the room, completely motionless until Kokoro floated up to her from behind and asked "Mommy…What is going on? Who is this Seija person?" Byakuren suddenly clenched her fists in anger, and in ignoring Kokoro's words Byakuren suddenly turns around and dashes out of the room, leaving Kokoro to look at a normal wooden stand that seemed to once hold a staff within it's grasp.

After tilting her head for a moment in confusion, Kokoro turned around and left the room alone, trying her hardest to keep up with her mother, which led her right out of the temple after a while once she heard the front doors being kicked open. Byakuren was at the bottom of the stairs with a panicked look on her face, and she looked around for any signs of the one called Seija, only to come up empty no matter how hard she tried.

Kokoro heads down the stairs and tries to calm her panting mother down by saying "Mommy…Please…I want to know what's happening…" But it wasn't Kokoro's words that broke through Byakuren's current state, but rather the urgent sounds of her fellow temple-goers, as the rest of them sans Shou rush to the scene as fast as they can. "Lady Byakuren, what's going on?! We heard a couple of explosions and then saw you leaping into the temple! Are we under attack?!" Murasa proclaims while hoisting her anchor over her shoulder.

With a furious glare that made the temple-goers' hearts skip a beat, Byakuren proclaimed "It's that amanojaku…She managed to sneak into our temple and invade our vault!" "What?!" Kyouko, Nue and Murasa proclaim simultaneously, and just a moment later Miko suddenly runs into the temple grounds through the front gate with her cape swaying in the breeze and an urgent look in her eyes. Stopping a fair distance away from Byakuren, Miko begins to say "Hijiri! The amanojaku is going to-" But upon seeing the state of the temple and the bitter expression on Byakuren's face, Miko has a moment of awkwardness before murmuring out "I-I see that I was too late…"

"So what's the damage, Lady Byakuren? How much did that amanojaku take from the vault?" Nue quickly inquires, which causes Byakuren to state bluntly "That troublemaker stole the most precious item in that vault along with a good amount of gold!" Miko reacts with terrible shock, saying to Byakuren calmly "You mean to tell me that the Youkai stole your more cherished possession? The nerve of her…"

Without warning, Byakuren punches her open palm with her tightened fist and proclaims in a rather frightening display of tranquil rage "That amanojaku has gotten away with far too much now! It's time for her to be punished, permanently…" As Byakuren cracked her knuckles together, frightening the temple-goers and Kokoro, Miko began to turn around while stating "I will go seek her out and recover your item immediately, Hijiri." But before Miko could leave, Byakuren said to her "Miko, there's something you must know first…"

"Hmm?" Miko asked curiously, and with a glance over her right shoulder the Crown Prince was met with the cold, bitter stare from Byakuren's narrowed eyes before she said to her "I do not want you to hold anything back this time. I won't be satisfied until that amanojaku is DEAD for this act of larceny." With a chill creeping down her spine, Miko considered saying something to try and calm Byakuren down, but was rational enough to understand that there would be nothing she could do to quell her besides deal with Seija. As such, Miko dashes off without saying anything else.

With everyone else just standing around, Byakuren stamps her foot on the ground and proclaims "What are you standing around for?! Kyouko and Murasa, find Shou and Nazrin and tell them to help! Nue, find Mamizou and have her using her tracking skills to find the amanojaku!" "R-Right, Lady Byakuren!" The three temple-goers say simultaneously before they scatter off to deal with the thief Seija.

Kokoro is the only one who stays behind, and she tries to extend her hand out and say calmly to her mother "Mommy, please cal-" "Kokoro…Just go deal with that amanojaku and bring back what she stole!" Byakuren responds fiercely to Kokoro's words before she was even done before she stampedes off to check back on the vault, and the mask of melancholy appears beside Kokoro's face as her mother passes her by. But at the very least, Kokoro knew exactly how to cheer her mother up, and that was to capture the one called Seija Kijin and bring back her mother's most precious object.

Taking off from the Myouren Temple, Kokoro decided to fly off in search of Seija…But it wasn't very long before the big problem arose for Kokoro in that she had no idea what Seija even looked like. Pausing in the middle of the air, Kokoro sighed and said "…Why haven't I heard of this Seija person before? Everyone at the temple was making a big deal about her, but she's a Youkai I've heard nothing about." While Kokoro was deep in her pondering state, she failed to notice that a certain Celestial was sneaking up from behind, descending from the sky while sitting criss-cross on one of her keystones.

Once Tenshi was in a prime position, she said with a mischievous smile "What'cha thinking about, Kokoro?!" The sudden proclamation shocked Kokoro, who flipped around with an immediate change to the mask of surprise beside herself before she recognized her vocal assailant as Tenshi. Then her eyelids narrowed and she said dryly "…You didn't need to sneak up on me…"

"Thought I'd surprise you again today. Speaking of surprises though, what are you doing all the way out here? Don't tell me you haven't gathered the courage to apologize to your 'mom' yet…" Tenshi says with a puzzled tilt of the head as she lays her hands atop her skirt. Kokoro says to her "I did go to apologize, and I even brought her a stray Youkai to help with that…But the Youkai was an enemy in disguise, and it appears she stole something very important to mommy…"

Tilting her head curiously, Tenshi says "And you're now trying to get that item back, aren't you? Geez Kokoro…How mad was that Buddhist after you caused this all to happen?" After Kokoro was berated by Tenshi for the mistake, Kokoro hung her head and admitted "…I don't think mommy was mad at me for this one…She seemed more focused on letting her anger out towards the Youkai. She said she wants that Youkai dead…"

For the next few seconds, Tenshi stared blankly at Kokoro, which forced the menreiki to say her name in order to get her to respond. "Kokoro…I think I underestimated just how deadly that Buddhist can be. What type of Youkai could have possibly ticked her off that much?" Tenshi inquires, and with an effortless shrug Kokoro says "I don't know…I have no idea what this Youkai looks like because she wore a cloak the whole time, but mommy and daddy both called her an amanojaku named Seija Kijin…"

It was at that point where Tenshi's eyes flared up in total shock, and she proclaimed "WHAT?!" in the loudest tone she could muster, her breath blowing Kokoro's hair back in the process. Kokoro blinked a couple times, and then said to Tenshi "…You know who this Seija person is, Tenshi?" "Kokoro, I'm more surprised that you DON'T know who Seija is. There was an entire ten day campaign throughout all of Gensokyo where EVERYONE short of the Yama and her Shinigami tried to hunt that amanojaku down!"

Kokoro tilts her head and remarked "…I must have slept through those ten days…" "HOW?! Kokoro, I could seriously believe you missing that one incident with the inchling, but HOW in the flipping F*** did you sleep for ten days in a row?!" Tenshi uses a rather…blunt word to express her sheer disbelief towards what Kokoro said, and with a tilt of her head Kokoro missed the point and said "Tenshi, I think that's a very bad word…"

Tenshi slaps her forehead and groans, saying rather irritatingly "That's not important, Kokoro…You seriously don't know who Seija is?" Kokoro shakes her head and says "I'm sorry Tenshi, I was just probably really tired…for ten days…But if you know who this person is and what they look like, then anything can help me out. Please…" The innocent way that Kokoro folds her hands together and looks at Tenshi causes the Celestial to groan again and say "Alright, you seriously need to know about that amanojaku…"

Folding her arms together, Tenshi puts on a very serious expression and says "Remember how I mentioned that inchling incident a couple days ago? Well the ringleader behind that incident was actually Seija Kijin. She wished to make the meek overtake the strong in Gensokyo by manipulating the inchling into using something called the Magic Mallet…Anyways, that's not important. After that incident, Seija was made the most wanted Youkai in all of Gensokyo, and like I said…Everyone short of the Yama and her Shinigami and I guess you went out to try and stop her."

"Let me make something very, VERY clear here, Kokoro…" Tenshi holds one finger out and leans forward close to Kokoro so she can explain slowly "One of the key rules of spell card duels is that you cannot create impossible to dodge danmaku…But for the sake of stopping Seija, each and every one of us broke that very rule…And she still managed to defeat all of us. Your mother, your father, that annoying shrine maiden, the vampire, that gap youkai, and even _**I **_could not stop Seija with impossible to dodge danmaku."

Tenshi pulls back a bit, giving Kokoro a chance to ask her own questions. With a raise of the hand, the menreiki inquired "But Tenshi…Why is Seija hated so much?" Tenshi says in response "Seija is an amanojaku. By nature, they will do exactly the opposite of what people want just so they can relish in their anger. So she'll pillage, destroy, and possibly even kill in order to piss people off. In all of my pranks, Kokoro, I have never purposely intended to do any of those things minus the destruction of the Hakurei Shrine. That's why Seija is so dangerous…She can't be stopped with danmaku, and she's tricky enough to get away from those who want to punish her."

"But I thought when an incident is stopped, the person responsible for causing the incident became friendly with the residents of Gensokyo…?" Kokoro asked, and Tenshi had to quickly say "Kokoro, don't even think about something like that. Amanojakus don't want to find allies or make friends. They'll always cause nothing but trouble…" Kokoro lays one hand against her chest and asks "Has anyone even tried to make friends with Seija?"

Tenshi rubs the back of her head and looks away from Kokoro before hesitantly telling her "Why would they? She's made an enemy of the world, Kokoro. Just because you haven't gotten affected by that menace doesn't mean you should try and be friends with her. I'm with the Buddhist on this way…She's better off dead." Kokoro shakes her head and says in a defiant manner "It's not right though…"

"It doesn't matter if it's right or not, Kokoro! Seija is nothing like me! There's not a single chance that you can convince her to stop what she's doing! …Please Kokoro, don't make things anymore complicated then they have to be right now. I'm going to go search for that amanojaku and take care of her once and for all. I promise I'll get that Buddhist's items back, but just stay here and wait for me to return, ok?" Tenshi then stands upright on her keystone, swinging her right hand out in order to summon her Hisou no Tsurugi before she flips the keystone around and flies off in pursuit of Seija, leaving a very exasperated Kokoro behind by herself.

With this man-hunt against the amanojaku growing bit by bit, there was no doubt that someone was going to run into Seija by the end of the day…But Kokoro could just not get rid of this unease in her heart as she saw how easily her friends and family were willing to kill Seija. Regardless of what Tenshi said, Kokoro lifted her head up and quietly said "I have to take a chance…If I can make Seija my friend…Then no one will have to have blood on their hands…" Even though the idea was foolish, Kokoro quickly went back to flying through the skies of Gensokyo, hoping to do the impossible and befriend the rogue amanojaku…

_Next Time: Reverse Decision_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Reverse Empathy II: Catch You On the Flip Side!**

The hunt for Seija had begun once more. This time, the reason for hunting down the rogue amanojaku was due to her attack on the Myouren Temple, which resulted in some unspecified but very important item of Byakuren's being stolen. In a rather surprising move from the Buddhist priest, she demanded the death of Seija for what she had done, and due to how frightening it was to see the usually docile Byakuren get so angry no one even bothered to try and quell her anger.

Kokoro, after getting a lesson on who Seija was from Tenshi, decided to do things entirely different than what her adopted mother wished and sought out the amanojaku in order to try and befriend her, even though that sounded like an impossible task due to the nature of the Youkai. But as Kokoro flew through Gensokyo in search of Seija, she was quick to realize something very important "…I didn't ask Tenshi what Seija looks like."

Kokoro stops flying for a moment in order to slap herself in the face for her incompetence, but as she slowly draws her hand away from her face she says "I can't hope to get an answer from Tenshi now…And I don't think I should go back to mommy until I've found Seija…" Groaning after realizing how lost she's going to be for the time being, Kokoro nevertheless decides to try looking everywhere she can for Seija, at the very least realizing that she should be able to recognize the Youkai's cloak.

Kokoro gets back to work trying to find Seija afterwards, going for an aerial scan of the land for the time being. Meanwhile, the other Youkai from the Myouren Temple have divided their forces to cover more ground. Murasa and Kyouko work together to find Shou and Nazrin so they can use their abilities to try and find Seija via the treasure she had grabbed. Unfortunately for them, it seems as though Seija had only stolen the precious object from the temple vault, and thus Nazrin and Shou could only look around Gensokyo normally for the amanojaku.

Nue, on the other hand, went to seek out Mamizou, an effort that took about ten minutes due to having to disguise her identity as a Youkai in order to find the tanuki in the Human Village. After dragging Mamizou away from the village, the two go deep into the forest, where Nue turns back to normal and lays herself atop her UFO. While kicking her feet up behind her, Nue watches as Mamizou takes out her smoke pipe and gets it prepared while remarking in a curious tone "And to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my good friend this afternoon?"

"We got a bit of a problem, Mamizou." Nue says, and Mamizou lifts her eyebrows up after putting her pipe in her mouth for a moment before saying "How much is a 'bit' in this case, Nue?" Raising one hand up and wagging her finger, Nue says to the tanuki rather nonchalantly "Oh I don't know…Seija's shown herself again by pilfering one of Byakuren's most prized possessions from her temple, and Byakuren has asked us to find and kill her."

Mamizou nearly does a double-take from that last bit of news, and she looks up at Nue in order to say to her with her own brand of nonchalance "Hmm, I guess it's not really a small problem then, is it?" Nue lays her head on her arms and remarks "Nope. Anyways, I came to find you since your tracking skills are perfect for helping to find the amanojaku, and quite frankly I think if we teamed up it'd be easier to take her down in a danmaku duel."

Putting her pipe away for the moment, the tanuki remarks "You know Nue, I really don't think danmaku is the way to handle Seija so long as she in possession of all of those strange items. Of course, I get the feeling I'm partially at fault for telling her how to use some of those item more effectively…" Nue widens her eyes and says in disbelief "Why did you do that?!" Mamizou can only offer a shrug before she says with a sly smirk "I suppose my mentor side got the better of me."

"You should've known better than that, Mamizou." Nue remarks in a berating tone, though she merely did so because she was one of the people the amanojaku defeated in battle. Mamizou then glances up at Nue and remarks "That is all in the past now. I'm just surprised to hear Hijiri demanding blood, considering her dedication to Buddhism and all. Whatever Seija stole must be VERY important to her to warrant such a reaction. As such, I will be more than willing to help you find her, Nue." Laying one hand out past her UFO, Nue says to Mamizou happily "Good. You and I really don't hang out enough ever since you arrived in Gensokyo. You're always hanging around the Human Village with that cursed bookstore girl."

Humored, Mamizou puts on a bit of a smug smile and says "Are you jealous, Nue?" Nue grins and says "Not at all, but you better hope things don't backfire on you with that girl. If I lost you, who else could I rely on to have fun with?" The tanuki turns around after that remark, folding her arms into her sleeves before she says "Trust me, it'll be quite a long time before either of us die. We'll have plenty of opportunities to have some fun, Nue, just like we did in the past. But for now, I think an amanojaku hunt will be a refreshing change of pace, yes?"

"So you're seriously going to go through with killing her? Cause I don't see how else Byakuren is going to calm down unless we do that." Nue remarks as she sits herself upright atop her UFO and crosses her legs together. "Oh not at all. I'm not really the killing type anymore…By the way, just how did the amanojaku manage to get into the temple, especially past your watchful eyes?" Mamizou inquires while glancing over her shoulder.

"…You might not like to hear this, but I think Kokoro was tricked into bringing Seija to the temple grounds. The amanojaku also deceived Byakuren and the others for a brief time." Nue remarks, and with a sigh Mamizou remarks while shaking her head "Poor, poor Kokoro…Things just can't go her way lately. Then I'm going to assume that Kokoro is trying to look for Seija as well?" Nue scratches the side of her head before remarking "I can't say for sure since I left while she was still there…But I imagine she didn't stick around."

"Hmmm…In that case, I think we can have a little more fun with this hunt than I originally thought we would." Mamizou says, her usual smirk curling across her face as she faces the way ahead of her and begins to walk. Nue floats behind her, quickly discerning her friend's motives with a coy expression on her face as she says "Now that's the Mamizou I know and love. I'll play my part in your little ploy perfectly, as usual." "I know you will Nue…But first we have to find our rogue little friend and…rough her up quite a bit. I hope your natural fighting abilities haven't diminished, Nue." Mamizou says.

"I haven't let age get to me like you have, Mamizou." Nue makes a playful remark towards her friend, and with a brief laugh Mamizou pulls out her smoke pipe and gives it a shake at Nue before stating "Trust me, this ol' tanuki has kept her fighting style sharp even after all these years. Lets just try and not rough that amanojaku up too much." "I make no promises, Mamizou." Nue says, and the two friends proceed to just enjoy a brisk walk through the forest as they try to find Seija.

An hour later, we find Kokoro still flying through Gensokyo in search of Seija. She has had no luck whatsoever, and she heavily doubted that anyone else was making any progress in this matter. "Oh…Maybe I should go and find Tenshi and ask her what Seija looks like…" Kokoro considers as she glances back and forth down at the trees, realizing that she may have already looked over this part of the forest not too long ago.

Once again stopping in place, Kokoro's mask of melancholy shows up beside her, and she tried to contemplate some ideas on how to proceed from here. Folding her arms together, Kokoro looked towards the sky and thought "…Didn't Tenshi say something about an inchling being tricked by Seija? And that inchling is currently living at the Hakurei Shrine…" The idea of asking the inchling for help in knowing what Seija looked like seemed like a good one…Until Kokoro thought about it a little more and realized that there were a few problems with going to the Hakurei Shrine.

One, that would mean running into Reimu. Two, Kokoro recalls not having a good experience with Reimu the last time they saw each other, since the shrine maiden was exploiting her Noh plays for money and faith. Three, Reimu would likely get involved in finding Seija, and that would mean Reimu would try and take the precious object just because of her religious rivalry with Byakuren. In general, Reimu was too much of a concern to warrant trying to approach the inchling.

"…But then that means I don't have any good options to try and figure out what Seija looks like." Kokoro murmurs in a disappointed tone, but then she looks down and sees something that she didn't expect to find. On a pathway between the regular and bamboo forests was a wooden food cart with steam coming out of it and a few paper signs attached to the roof that says "lamprey eel" in kanji, and there was even a picture of said eel on the rightmost one just to further emphasize the point.

But the cart itself wasn't the unexpected thing, Kokoro was just noting the appearance of it for the moment. What Kokoro saw was an anchor lying down in the side of the cart and a familiar tail waggling out past the signs. Kokoro immediately flew down behind the cart and found Kyouko and Murasa sitting down on a wooden bench while eating grilled lamprey that was served to them by Mystia, who was currently wearing her normal white and brown clothing patterned with bird-like ornaments.

"What are you two doing here?" Kokoro asks, and the two Buddhist followers flinch in surprise before they turn their heads back to look at the menreiki, with Kyouko's mouth having the skewer from the lamprey eel stuck in it. After Kyouko pulls out the skewer and frantically states "It's not what it looks like Kokoro! We're not goofing off!" Kokoro tilts her head and then waves her hand at Mystia to say "Hi Mystia…Is this that food stand you talked about before?"

As Mystia washes off a skewer behind the counter, she remarks in a polite manner "Yep. You'll never find a better selection of cooked lamprey eels in all of Gensokyo. So do you want to stop and eat something while you're out searching for that amanojaku?" Kokoro shakes her head, but remarks afterwards "Wait, how do you know about that?" Mystia and Murasa both point at Kyouko without hesitation, and the yamabiko nervously chuckles afterwards.

"We just needed something to eat real quick, and we didn't want to go back to the temple empty-handed to get food considering Lady Byakuren's current state of mind…" Kyouko explains, and after Murasa eats another skewer of lamprey eel she smiles and remarks "This is really good though. Considering my connection to ships, I don't really eat that much seafood. But we're going to have to stop enjoying this soon, Kyouko."

"Yeah…I suppose you're right." Kyouko says, her ears sagging in disappointment before she gives Mystia the skewer she just finished off. "Hey, come back anytime, I'm always open for business to a friend and her friends!" Mystia remarks, but before Kyouko and Murasa get off the bench Kokoro gets a brilliant idea and asks "By the way…Do any of you know what Seija looks like? I have no idea what to look for here…"

Everyone was surprised to hear Kokoro say that, but their reaction is more grounded than Tenshi's was as Kyouko asked "Did you not fight Seija or something during those ten days she was being hunted for? …Actually, that sounds really hard to believe." "I was asleep for that whole time…" Kokoro says while hanging her head in shame slightly, and after everyone blinked a few times in disbelief Murasa waves one hand out and says "Eh, at least that explains why you don't know what Seija looks like. Look, if you want to find her, just keep an eye out for a youkai with tiny horns and black hair with red and white highlights. She's not too hard to find."

Kokoro quickly turns around and sprints off into the forest, much to Murasa's surprise. But after a few seconds Kokoro runs back to the food stand and bows her head thankfully towards Murasa, saying to her "Thank you for the advice Murasa." Before she splits from the area again to continue searching for Seija. Kyouko and Murasa share a shrug with one another, and then turn to shrug along with Mystia before they themselves decide to leave the area to get back to work, thanking Mystia for her incredible service before they do.

A couple hours pass after this event, but this time we shall be shifting our focus towards the antagonist of this little arc. Deep within the Forest of Magic, the horned, black-haired amanojaku can be seen resting on a little rock with a bag of unknown origin laying beside her and the long, wrapped up object she stole from the Myouren Temple is grasped in her right hand. As usual, Seija wore her white dress that ends in a series of gray, red and black spades that point both up and down, and her traditional sandals with purple straps were protecting her feet from sores as she walked.

Seija grinned happily as she gently tossed the stolen object up and down, the gleam in her coy expression accompanying the chuckle she had at the expense of those she robbed from. "I thought today was going to be very rotten when that stupid ghost tried to smite me with lightning, but now I've snagged something really valuable from that shitty Buddhist. Heheh, I really wish I could've stuck around to see the look on her face though." After Seija was done gloating to herself, she took the item and stuffed it into the bag, even though the size of said bag didn't seem to suggest that it could house such a long item.

Clapping her hands together, Seija remarks "It was just so damn easy too. That dumbass menreiki actually believed me when I said I wanted help. Heheh…I guess that wasn't really a lie though, even if it was unintentional. I ended up receiving help to break into that temple, after all…Hehehe." Seija then laid one finger against her chin and peered mischievously towards the sky before saying to herself "Now where should I go next? Maybe that ugly little mansion near the lake…Or that shitty little shrine at the top of the mountains…Oh who am I kidding, I can pilfer from any place I want to as I damn well please!"

"My my, it seems you've gotten quite the ego since I last saw you." The familiar voice of the tanuki calls Seija's attention towards her in an instant, and as Mamizou walks across the forest leaves to approach her Seija grins and says "Well if it isn't the know-it-all human pretending to be a tanuki. Did you come to bother me with your 'advice' again or are you just going to stand there and offend me with your smoke scented body?" As Seija waves in front of her nose and glares down at Mamizou in a condescending manner from atop her rock, the tanuki raises her eyebrows and says "And your choice of words is just as repugnant as ever. I'm not surprised at all by that, considering what you are."

After a momentary pause due to how unexpected Mamizou's reaction was, Seija held her right hand out and smirked without looking over at the tanuki before she said "Whatever grandma. So what the hell do you want? I'm a busy Youkai after all." Mamizou glances at her and says with a natural smile "Ah yes, I've heard all about your exploits lately. Tricking a young Youkai and pilfering from a Buddhist temple…Truly time well spent by the great Seija Kijin, I would say."

This next comment caused Seija to glare at Mamizou before saying to her "I know you're mocking me, but I personally don't give a shit. You idiots make it way too easy to get away with this stuff. But man oh man, that menreiki is the biggest goddamn idiot of them all. She didn't even QUESTION who I was and just let me trick her into taking her into the temple, all under the pretense of her restricting 'good intentions'. Dumb girl can't even form any proper emotions, so the worst part about me tricking her is that I'll never get to see the bitter look on her face."

"Oh, I can assure you that the only one truly pissed off is Byakuren. I'm giving you a chance to let me take back her precious object, and I won't be forced to take action." Mamizou remarks, giving a fair warning to the amanojaku, only to be met with Seija pulling her head back in laughter and exclaiming "Oh that is really great! Holy crap I can't believe I didn't stick around to see that shitty Buddhist get pissed off! That would've been some Grade-A hatred right there!" After that little display of delight, Seija wipes the bits of tears forming from her face and then address Mamizou's other remark by grinning and telling her "Hahaha…That's a good one though. You'll take that item back from me? I'd honestly really, REALLY love to see you try."

Seija then picks up the bag beside her and lifts it up, pointing inside of it to show off the rather black void within. "See this? This bag here can store anything I want without running out of space. If you want that precious item, you'd have to knock me out and then spend a few minutes reaching into that bag to grab it out. But you know what else is in here? All those precious little items of mine that allows me to completely dominate ANYONE in a danmaku battle. And of course, it's all thanks to your advice that I know how to use them as well as I can."

With a coy expression as she sticks her tongue out and pulls the skin below her right eye down a bit, Seija says "So if you want to step right up and face the invincible Seija in a danmaku duel, I'm more than ready to kick your wrinkled old ass once more, tanuki! I'll dodge all of your impossible danmaku and leave you battered and humiliated in this forest!" At this point, the tanuki lowered her head slightly and smirked, hiding the look in her eyes as she said in a rather serious tone "How cute…This young upstart thinks I want to play a game of danmaku with her."

Seija was greatly puzzled by this response, and as she lowered the bag a bit she remarked "The hell are you talking about? Of course you want to fight a danmaku duel! You HAVE to fight with danmaku!" Mamizou lifts her head up and reveals a rather cold stare before she says to the amanojaku "Ah, I remember when I was once as ignorant as you are now. No no no Seija…The spell card rules exist to prevent rogue Youkai and such from causing great harm to the humans. Disputes and the like can thus be solved with little issue…"

Mamizou then reaches for her glasses, pulling them off slowly as she continues to explain "Everyone just has no problem agreeing to the spell card rules…There's no concrete rule set in place that prevents people from fighting any other way they please. And since you have proven too tricky to deal with using danmaku, you've left me with no other choice…" After the tanuki pockets her glasses within her clothes, she pulls out her smoke pipe and gives a bit of a shake to remove some of the ashes from it.

"S-So what? Are you just going to attack me with that smoke pipe, grandma? You're full of shit, that old body of yours doesn't stand a chance against me!" Seija exclaims, showing the slightest hint of nervousness due to how the tanuki was currently behaving. Glancing at the amanojaku while widening her grin, Mamizou says to her "Then this will be a good warm-up for these old bones of my mine. Hehehe, now how quickly will I defeat you? I'd say five minutes is a good estimate…" As Seija's heart pounds, a purple and gold flash suddenly appears behind her, suggesting that the battle was about to begin…

A few minutes later, in a part of Gensokyo not far from where Mamizou and Seija were, we find Kokoro now back in the air over the forest, only this time she had found new vigor in her desire to seek out the amanojaku now that she knew what she looked like. It didn't take very long though for Kokoro to stop flying as she saw something rather curious in the distance. A bunch of birds flew out from the tree tops, and some leaves launched out as a sign of commotion in the area.

Curiosity got the better of Kokoro, and she remarked as she flew towards the location of the commotion "Maybe someone has found Seija…I need to get there before they kill her!" It didn't take long for Kokoro to make it to the part of the forest she needed to be, and in keeping a cautious mind she descends to the ground to see what was happening. Upon landing, the immediate thing that grabbed Kokoro's attention and caused her to flinch in shock was that Seija was standing and panting over Mamizou, who was face-first on the ground in an unconscious state.

"Not bad, you old tanuki…But once again the invincible Seija triumphs!" Seija says with overjoyed arrogance in her voice, but upon hearing the footsteps Kokoro made Seija turns around and gestures out with her right hand with a grin on her face before she remarks "Oh? Yet another victim has come to get their butt kicked? …Heheh, oh wait, you're that menreiki that I tricked just a while ago. Hata no Kokoro, right?"

Kokoro ignores Seija for a moment and looks at Mamizou, saddened greatly to see her fallen like that, which made her inquire to the amanojaku "…You're Seija Kijin, right?" Seija smirks and points at herself with her right thumb before remarking bluntly "No shit. What, you seriously have to ask something like? Surely you haven't heard of me before now?" Kokoro says to her afterwards without a single change in her emotions "What did you do to Mamizou-san?"

Seija gestures behind herself before stating "What, that old wrinkled thing? I kicked her butt, what else? She thought she could snatch that treasure back from me, but I showed her what-for just like I have for anyone else stupid enough to try and defeat me? What, does seeing her on the ground rile you up? Make you mad?" As the amanojaku tried to entice Kokoro into anger, the menreiki surprised her by instead shaking her head in response.

Seija lifts her eyelids up and remarks "What, seriously? You seem to hold that old tanuki in high regards, so why aren't you getting mad?" Kokoro glares at Seija and tells her gently "I should be mad…But I know that's just what you want from me, Seija." "Pffft, whatever…So what, are you going to fight me just like that tanuki tried to do? Cause honestly, even though I haven't faced you before, I'm pretty certain I'd dominate you like I did everyone else! And then you'll never see that precious treasure again…Boo-hoo!" Seija continues to try and rile Kokoro up by mentioning the treasure.

Once more, Seija is surprised when Kokoro suddenly extends her right hand out and says "I didn't come here to fight…" Seija blinks a couple times and says dryly "…What?" Before Kokoro can explain to her "I know that everyone has turned against you…That you've caused trouble left and right in order to get people angry and make yourself happy…But that doesn't have to be the only way to find happiness in life. I want to help you find happiness…I want to be your friend, Seija."

There was a rather prolonged pause between the two Youkai after what Kokoro just said, with Seija staring wide-eyed at the menreiki for a good while before she lets out a snide snicker that leads into a burst of laughter that has her reeling forward in delight. "Hahaha…Oh my god…You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're joking…" Seija remarks, but looks up to see Kokoro still holding her hand out in earnest with the only change being her head tilted slightly to the right.

"…You're actually serious?" Seija says as she regains control of herself and stands upright, a smirk present on her face before she proudly states "I'm an amanojaku! I don't need anything like friends to be happy!" "Have you even tried to make friends with someone? Please…I'm asking you to consider giving friendship a chance." Kokoro says, and Seija starts picking at her right ear with her pinky while remarking "Man, aren't you persistent? Haven't you forgotten that I not only tricked you, but I stole from that stinking temple you love to hang around so much? Plus I'm a wanted criminal, and damn near everyone hates me. You seriously want to be friends with someone like me?"

Laying her other hand against her chest and looking the slightest bit pitying towards Seija, Kokoro says "Everyone hated Tenshi too…But I still chose to be her friend because I could see some good in her. Seija, you haven't tried to kill anyone…I'm sure you could be forgiven if you just return mommy's item to her and apologized. You don't have to follow your nature as an amanojaku, you know…" "Of course I do! An amanojaku exists to defy expectations so they can be happy!" Seija proclaims while swinging her arms out proudly.

"Then you would be happy with a friend, because you'd be defying the expectation everyone has that you want to be alone." Kokoro says in a surprising reversal of Seija's own logic, which causes the amanojaku to freeze up in shock before gritting her teeth and looking at Kokoro, saying to her to divert the subject while gesturing beside her head with her two hands "You're just gonna bore me to death at this rate with your talks of friendship and shit…The only way you're ever getting that so-called 'precious treasure' off of me is by defeating me in a danmaku duel!"

"I don't want to fight you, Seija." Kokoro says in a gentle tone, and with her hands raised out beside her the amanojaku remarks "I don't care what you want! You aren't getting that item back unless you defeat me! I'm not going to bend to your silly desire for friendship, regardless of how much you persist!" "…If fighting is the only way you want to handle this…" After a momentary pause, Kokoro holds her hands out and summons forth her two fans in her grasp, then points one at Seija and remarks "Then by defeating you, we will become friends that way!"

"If that's seriously what you think, then you're crazy. But at least you're in the fighting spirit now! But you won't win against me, even though I won't be using any of those items of mine in our duel!" Seija proclaims arrogantly, and Kokoro asks her hesitantly "…How many spell cards do you want to use?" Raising one finger up, Seija says to the young menreiki "One. One card is all I'm going to need to take you down. But on the very, very slim chance you beat me, I'll give you back that 'precious' item."

"And then we can also be friends?" Kokoro inquires, and Seija bluntly remarks as she begins to rise up into the air "Just get your spell card out and prepare to duel!" The amanojaku can be seen summoning a spell card into her hand as she passes through the leaves and branches above, and Kokoro follows her while summoning forth her own spell card of choice above one of her fans. The two duelists face each other in the skies of Gensokyo, moving a few feet further apart as Seija says to the menreiki "You better put your all into this. It won't be satisfying to CRUSH you otherwise!"

Kokoro takes both of her fans beside her spell card and says "Seija…Is there really no other way to go about this? If you want to go against the norm, why would you choose to solve things with spell cards?" Once more Kokoro's logical deduction caused Seija to grimace before she said "You're really getting on my nerves with all these questions. I'm a Youkai, of course I want to fight! Shouldn't you want to do the same? You're supposed to hate me after all I've done!" Seija arrogantly smirked as he placed her fingernails atop her chest for a moment.

"I don't want to solve problems by fighting…Even if I'm a Youkai, I don't find myself excited when battles occur…But you're leaving me no other choice here, Seija." Kokoro says with the utmost honesty, and with neither side budging in their resolve the amanojaku remarks "Fine then…Lets duel!" While sticking her tongue out, Seija uses the nail of her middle finger to flip the spell card around while slicing through the center of it before proclaiming "Deceit Sign 'Reverse Needle Attack'!" Kokoro meanwhile presses her spell card between two fans while stating "Idiom of Emotion 'The Endless Dance of Night'!"

Kokoro summons forth the two masks necessary for her spell card and surrounds herself in a pale aura of blue fire. She then waves one fan forward to send out a wave of blue fireballs roughly the size of her body at Seija. Simultaneously, her two masks sends out swift violet lasers that split into hundreds of tiny bullets after a momentary pause. Seija, meanwhile, sends out a series of red triangles in two diagonals behind herself while moving around to avoid Kokoro's attacks.

The menreiki was puzzled as Seija's danmaku vanishes after it goes a certain distance behind her, and decided to pay close attention just in case the amanojaku tried some sort of trick with her spell card. Kokoro alternated the use of her fans to send out the fireballs, keeping a very steady rhythm alongside her mask lasers so she would be able to apply plenty of pressure to the evasive Seija.

Seija glide left and right, then went up and down while firing off more of those strange triangles. It was at that point the amanojaku smirked even though a few of Kokoro's tiny bullets hit her body. Kokoro failed to notice that some of the red triangular danmaku reappeared behind her, flying out in multiple diagonal rows on both sides of Kokoro's body, thus restricting her movement quite a bit. Some of the bullets strike Kokoro in the back, and the menreiki has to move forward while glancing behind herself to see the bullets and where they move.

"I should've expected this…" Kokoro says in regards to the trickery of Seija's danmaku, but then she focuses back on her opponent while paying attention to which way the danmaku was flowing so she could determine when to graze or outright avoid the bullets. The fact that the pattern started with them at the farthest point and restarted once they went in closer was quickly figured out by Kokoro, and it wasn't long after that before Kokoro was able to graze the bullets almost perfectly while recognizing just when to launch her own attacks at Seija.

Seija was surprised as she found herself being struck with plenty of bullets both large and small, as her pattern forced her to pause momentarily to fire off her own attack to no avail now, as Kokoro refused to be hit as frequently as she was when she started out with the spell card. "I thought you said you didn't care to fight?! Then why are you so good at dodging my danmaku?!" Seija proclaims in a frustrated tone, her arrogance now working against her as she finds herself on the losing end of this battle.

Kokoro did not respond at first to Seija's remark, instead choosing to keep herself focused on the duel as she waved her fans out to send more fireballs at the amanojaku. Seija then looked at how serious Kokoro seemed to be despite her stoic expression, and exclaimed in a moment of rage "You really piss me off! I can't tell what I'm supposed to do to get you to hate me because of how emotionless you are!" Seija then began pulling at her hair with both hands while still firing off danmaku, and it was at this point that Kokoro felt the need to acknowledge her opponent's words.

"Then don't try and get me to hate you…Seija, I don't want you to die just because you feel you have to listen to your nature as an amanojaku. If you and I became friends, then you could be happy that way…Is it really that hard for you to fight back against that urge to make others hate you?" Kokoro asks while continuing to attack with danmaku, and Seija proclaims "Stop trying to get me to change! I'm happy just the way I am! Not everyone can change as easily as you assume they can! GAH!" With her lack of focus on the battle, Seija is hit with a rather blunt wave of danmaku from Kokoro, and as a shockwave erupts from the amanojaku's body and her danmaku disintegrates it was clear that Kokoro had won the duel with that final move.

The loss to Kokoro leaves Seija's body battered and her clothes tattered as she promptly drops from the sky and crashes through the trees below, with Kokoro taking a pitying look at her before she was out of sight, at which point Kokoro dispels the effects of her spell card and descends to pursue the amanojaku. Once back on the ground, Kokoro quickly notices that Mamizou's body has disappeared from sight, meaning that the tanuki had likely made a recovery and had gone off somewhere else for now.

Relieved to known that Mamizou was ok, Kokoro directed her attention back to Seija, who was lying on her stomach with her hands grabbing at the grass in front of her to show that she was struggling to get up after her defeat. Lying beside her was the long, clothed object that she had stolen from the Myouren Temple, and after looking at Seija in pity for a couple seconds Kokoro walks forward and bends down to pick up her mother's precious treasure.

Holding the object in both arms due to it's size, Kokoro turns around and prepares to walk off when all of a sudden Seija lifts her head up with a furious look in her eyes while stating "Y-You…Give that back to me! I rightfully took it! You had to have cheated in that duel!" Kokoro glances back at Seija and remarks "…Seija, I won fair and square. Please, just lie there and rest…" Even now Kokoro held no contempt towards the amanojaku, which only served to infuriate her further.

Seija slammed one fist against the ground and proclaimed "Why?! Why won't you hate me?! What do I have to do to tick you off?!" Kokoro turns her head away from Seija and said "There's nothing you can do to make me hate you, Seija…Especially since you and I both know you don't have it in you to kill anyone I care for. When you finally realize that you can find happiness by being my friend…Then I'll be waiting to see you again, Seija. But for now I need to return this object to my mommy…"

With nails digging into the ground, Seija remarks "I will NEVER be your friend! You'll waste your life away before that ever happens!" This remark makes Kokoro's heart feel heavy, and she lowers her eyelids a bit out of pity towards the amanojaku before she slowly begins to walk away from her, taking off into the sky to head back to the Myouren Temple moments later. Seija spends a few more seconds glaring at the menreiki in contempt before her body simply gives out and she collapses against the ground in pain.

In the skies above, Kokoro keeps the object held close to her chest as she flies. Her head was hung low slightly due to being unsuccessful in making Seija her friend, which caused her to wonder if Tenshi was right or if it was simply not the right time to try and convert the amanojaku into being her friend. As coincidence would have it, while thinking about Tenshi's remarks Kokoro is spoken to by said Celestial from afar. "Hey Kokoro, what are you still doing flying around?" Tenshi inquires as she flies closer to the menreiki while still standing on her keystone, her arms held behind her head as her Hisou no Tsurugi seems to have been put away.

Kokoro glances to the right at Tenshi, and the Celestial notices that she is holding on to a clothed object when she swerves. "…Is that the item that amanojaku stole?" Tenshi asked while pointing down at it, and Kokoro nodded her head in response. Tenshi, after all of her warnings about Seija, was naturally surprised enough to have her eyes widen before she proclaimed "You beat Seija?! H-How?!"

"I just faced her in a danmaku duel and won…It didn't seem too hard to defeat her." Kokoro remarks in a nonchalant tone, and that response did nothing to get rid of the surprised look on Tenshi's face. _"…I wonder if Kokoro used the same level of power she did against me to defeat Seija…" _The Celestial thinks, which then led to her inquiring "So Kokoro, what did you do about Seija?"

"I left her be…I was never going to kill her, Tenshi. But I failed to befriend her…" Kokoro sounded somewhat melancholy, and in the most gentle way she could manage in this situation Tenshi patted Kokoro on the shoulder and said "I'm just glad you didn't lose to her like the rest of us." The Celestial then pulled back and remarked "Well, since you're going to settle things with your mother, I'll just be heading off for now. Perhaps I'll see you again tomorrow, Kokoro…"

Before Tenshi leaves, Kokoro looks at her and says "Don't go yet Tenshi. I need you with me until I've given this back to mommy…" "Huh? You sure about that?" Tenshi inquires with a surprised look in her eyes, and Kokoro's affirmative nod makes Tenshi stay where she's at and remark with a neutral expression "Well I guess I'm not in a rush to head back, but I'll try not to talk so I don't say anything to tick your mother off further."

Kokoro was pleased by this, and the two of them went through the remainder of Gensokyo's skies towards the Myouren Temple. Along the way though, Tenshi couldn't help but feel that something was very off about Kokoro defeating Seija, but as the Celestial rubbed the bottom of her chin in thought she whispered "Maybe I'm just jealous that I didn't get to defeat Seija myself…" and decided to forget about further pursuing the matter, especially since the temple was just below the two of them and Kokoro had already gone ahead and descended towards the ground.

Tenshi followed close behind as usual, and once the two of them landed they found Byakuren standing in wait for them at the bottom of the staircase into the temple. She still had a cold atmosphere about her, but her anger seemed to now be subdued instead of prominent as it was before. That is, until she saw Tenshi walking onto her temple grounds, at which point she growled slightly without even noticing that Kokoro had gotten her item back. The menreiki quickly had to apply damage control by stating "Mommy…Tenshi was helping me get your item back from Seija…"

Byakuren then stopped growling and merely glared at Tenshi, saying in a quiet tone "Yes…I suppose that's fair enough." Byakuren then glanced down at Kokoro and noticed that her item had been recovered, and with a half-effort smile she bends down to look at Kokoro, remarking as she extends her right hand out "I knew I could trust you to get this back, Kokoro…Now where is that amanojaku's corpse?" At first coming off as appreciative, Byakuren shows that she had not gotten rid of her bloodlust against Seija yet with that simple inquiry.

Kokoro hung her head low and held the clothed object close to her body while hesitantly saying "…I didn't kill Seija, mommy. I defeated her in the forest and left her be…All that matters is that you have this treasure back, right?" Byakuren then chuckled callously at that remark and lifted her hands up, placing them both on Kokoro's shoulders without any of the warmth that would usually be expected from this action. Lifting her eyelids up slightly to glare at Kokoro, Byakuren said to her "Tell me where exactly you left that amanojaku, Kokoro, and I will finish the job myself."

As her heart felt heavy in regards to what she was about to do, Kokoro took a gulp of saliva and then said "…I'm not going to tell you, mommy." It was at that point that Kokoro felt Byakuren's grip on her shoulders tighten, and Byakuren said in a firmer tone "That wasn't a request, Kokoro. Tell me where Seija is, now." Kokoro shakes her head and states "I'm not going to let you kill her. She didn't do anything to deserve death."

Byakuren tightened her grip further, a light crunch being heard from Kokoro's bones as the Buddhist stated in a louder voice "She broke into MY temple and stole the most precious item I have! Now tell me where she is so I can deal with that ignorant child once and for all!" Tenshi could tell that the situation was going to get worse quickly if she didn't hurry up and step in, and as she looked ready to draw her Hisou no Tsurugi in defense of Kokoro Byakuren stated "There's no reason to keep her alive, Kokoro, she is better off de-"

It was then that the tension was broken by a sharp sound, one that naturally surprised both Tenshi and Byakuren. Using what strength she could muster, Kokoro had managed to free her right arm from her mother's grasp and quickly raised her hand up to slap Byakuren across the side of her face while the mask of melancholy appeared beside Kokoro's own face as she does this. There was then nothing but silence from all involved, and Byakuren kept her head held to the side for a moment before turning to look at Kokoro with the imprint the slap made visible on her cheek.

Byakuren seems to have been temporarily snapped out of her anger, as her grip was loosened on Kokoro's shoulders and her mouth was agape to match her frozen look of shock. Kokoro then stepped back a moment, watching as Byakuren's hands dropped to the ground before she said "Mommy…This isn't like you at all. You're the one who taught me to respect all forms of life, and that killing is not the way to go…Seija wronged you, I understand that, but she has never taken a life herself…If you went and killed her, that would make you much worse than she ever was. I defeated her and brought back what she stolen…So please, can you go back to being the kind, loving mother that I remember?"

As Kokoro finished, she held her hands out to put the clothed object in front of her body. Unbeknownst to everyone at the temple, Miko was currently observing the event from the entrance with an intrigued look in her eyes. Byakuren, listening to the words of her adopted daughter, finds herself trembling in realization of what she was considering doing to Seiga. "I…I was seriously going to…" Byakuren mutters out before she slowly raises her hands up to take the clothed object from Kokoro's hands.

Pulling her body back afterwards, Byakuren holds the object against her chest while her arms are wrapped around it, kneeling upright and looking at Kokoro with a devastated expression on her face before she says quietly "…Kokoro…I-I'm so sorry…I was seriously going to go that far…I truly considered taking another life…And I was hurting you as well…" Trembling still, Byakuren lowered her head a bit and looked ready to cry for what she had done, but Kokoro quickly says to her "You're back to normal now, mommy…That's all I wanted to happen."

Before any tears flowed out, Kokoro sniffled and lifted her head up, putting in her best effort to smile at her adopted daughter before saying "Y-You're right…I am back to normal…And it's all thanks to your efforts, my daughter…I don't know what I can do to thank you for returning this item to me…" It was then that Miko stepped forward from the entrance, remarking in a rather quiet tone of voice "How about a celebratory dinner then, Hijiri?"

Byakuren looks up at Miko, surprised to see that she was there, a reaction shared by both Tenshi and Kokoro as they turn to face her. "A-A celebratory dinner?" Byakuren murmured out, and Miko waved her right arm out and said with a great deal of joy in her tone "Yes. It shall be a grand and wonderful dinner, acting as a temporary unison of both of our factions so we can allow Kokoro to experience perfectly the feeling of pride over the great deed she has accomplished for you today, Hijiri. After all, she did what no one else could and stopped the rogue amanojaku. Of course, we will only have this dinner if you are willing to host it at your temple, Hijiri."

Byakuren didn't hesitate to nod her head, saying in a quiet tone "I think that would be fine…We will have a celebration of this event at my temple tomorrow night." Tenshi, who had been silent the whole time so far, folded her arms behind her head and licked her lips at the prospect of a grand dinner made by the two religious leaders, and with a glance at Miko the Celestial asked "I hope you have room at this dinner for me, seeing how I'm Kokoro's surrogate older sister and all."

Miko pulled her head back slightly and laughed merrily, saying afterwards "I'd be delighted to have your company again, Tenshi…But it is up to Hijiri to decide whether you should be allowed to come or not." Byakuren and Tenshi shared a glance at one another, with Kokoro looking at her mother with a slight pout on her face, and in her current state Byakuren crumbled easily and said "…I will allow it just this once. After all, you did help Kokoro get this back for me…"

"Sweet! I'll definitely try and bring my own food down for the dinner. We got plenty of peaches up in Bhava-agra, so maybe I'll make a dessert out of them!" Tenshi proclaims excitedly while rubbing her hands in front of her chest and continuing to lick her lips in delight. Miko finds herself once more humored by the Celestial's actions, and then she said to Byakuren "Then I shall return to my Mausoleum and spend the next twenty-four hours preparing food for this event…Well, and I should probably go find your followers and tell them that it's safe to return. Rest well, Hijiri, there is no reason to feel stress anymore…"

With her reassuring remark, Miko turned around and walked off the temple grounds, and Tenshi afterwards glanced at both Kokoro and Byakuren and said "Yeah, I'm going to need a lot of time to get the food ready, so I should probably get going now. Catch you tomorrow, Kokoro!" With a wave of her hand to say goodbye to Kokoro, Tenshi runs past the temple entrance and leaps onto her keystone, taking off a moment later as Kokoro watches from below.

Once Tenshi and Miko were gone, Byakuren curls her body around her clothed object and finally stops holding back her emotions, letting out a few muffled breathes as tears of joy and relief pour out from her eyes and onto the cloth below. Kokoro turns around immediately and calls out to her mother in a slow, puzzled manner, and after crying for a few more seconds Byakuren replies amidst her tearfulness "I…I honestly thought I'd never reclaim this…"

Kokoro waits a moment before kneeling down in front of her mother, laying both of her hands atop her knees before she asks "Mommy…I hope I'm not stepping out of line by asking you this, but…Just what is this precious treasure of yours?" Lifting her head up right away, Byakuren wipes some of the tears from her face with one hand before laying it down atop the clothed object and answering Kokoro's question with "This…This is my brother's monk staff…And the last possession of his that exists in this world."

Kokoro reacted with surprise, saying in a stoic tone "I…I didn't know you had a brother." Byakuren nodded her head in response, explaining in a quiet voice "Myouren Hijiri was my younger brother…He taught me everything he knew about Buddhist magic, and the two of us spent our days reciting sutras and helping whoever needed guidance…But both of us got old eventually, and Myouren was the one unfortunate enough to have his life claimed by death first. I mourned his death, but at the same time I began to fear dying as well…"

"I searched desperately for a way to prolong my life, seeking black magic to maintain my youth and originally using a goal of aiding Youkai to help retain that youth…But then I truly wanted to help Youkai out, which combined with my unnatural looks, led to me being sealed away in Makai by humans a long time ago until the day I was freed by my trusted allies…I then made this temple in my brother's name, and with Shou's help I found my brother's staff buried deep within the ground where his grave once was…I cleaned it up and wrapped it in a cloth filled with charms to ward off impurity, and the put it in our vault for safe keeping."

As Byakuren remembered her brother, she began to cry again, her voice dealing with the occasional whimper as she held her brother's staff closer to her body and said "My brother…was such a selfless and kind person…I always tried to act exactly like him, and strived to live up his standards no matter what…But look at me Kokoro…I'm a thousand-so year old human using dark magic to make herself look young, I'm trying to make Youkai into Buddhists, and I almost took someone else's life…"

Opening her mouth wide, Byakuren exclaimed in a horrified tone "I'm a horrible person Kokoro! You'd be better off with anyone else as your mother besides a hypocrite like me!" The genuine anguish in Byakuren's voice could be heard clearly, but Kokoro did not feel the need to hate her mother for anything she had just admitted to. Instead, Kokoro took a page from her mother's own book and leaned forward, wrapping both of her arms around Byakuren's neck and holding her over atop her right shoulder while the mask of joy was beside her face. Byakuren gasped as Kokoro did this, her eyes widening for a moment in shock before Kokoro remarked "You're human mommy…Of course you're going to make mistakes. You've done nothing wrong in my eyes though, I can assure you that…"

Byakuren froze for a few seconds, but sniffled and said out of sheer joy towards the menreiki "Kokoro…I-I really taught you well…Didn't I?" Kokoro nodded her head and said "Yes you did mom…Yes you did…" With that, Byakuren knew she could continue to cry while Kokoro embraced her in this hug, and the two of them would be on the ground of the Myouren Temple for the next few minutes until Byakuren was finished…

Back in the forest, however, we find Mamizou and Seija's unconscious bodies lying on the ground in a different part of the forest than where Kokoro fought the amanojaku. A black trident was poking at the back of Mamizou's body, and who else but Nue could be responsible for holding the trident. She had it grasped lazily in her right hand while she laid down atop her UFO, letting out a yawn as she looked towards the sky and said "Man…When is that Taoist going to get back here?"

"Right now should suffice, yes?" Miko's voice answers Nue's question as she walks past some bushes to reach this area, and promptly Nue sits upright and proclaims in a blunt tone "Sheesh, I thought you'd NEVER make it back. Hey Mamizou, you can finally get up now!" When Nue calls out for the tanuki, it's surprisingly not her body that rises up to their feet, but rather that of Seija's. "Hehe…It seems everything went as well as we had hoped, for the most part." Seija? Remarks before a puff of smoke covers her body, transforming her back into Mamizou's human guise.

The tanuki reached into her pockets and pulled out her glasses, putting them back on while remarking to Nue "You can stop using your powers on her now, Nue." "Bummer, it was kind of fun poking at someone that looked like you. It was just like the first time we ever met." Nue says in a snide voice before she snaps her fingers, causing Mamizou's? body to be covered in an alien static, which fades away to reveal a battered and unconscious Seija in it's place.

Miko stares at Seija's body and says "Forgive me for intruding on your battle with Seija earlier, Mamizou…But I saw my chance to deal with her and decided to take it." Mamizou merely shrugged as she reached for her smoke pipe, saying with a mischievous smile on her face "The plan was to knock her unconscious anyways, so I can't say I'm too disappointed." "Though I will admit, it would've been quite interesting to see how you were planning to defeat Seija with just a smoke pipe." Miko remarks with a wink and a smirk.

"Maybe another time, Crown Prince." Mamizou says before she places the pipe in her mouth to take a smoke. Miko folds her arms together and lays one hand under her chin before asking "Now since I've gone through with it all, shall you tell me just why you went through with this plan?" Mamizou pulls her pipe out and holds it off to the side before saying "I suppose I owe you that much. Nue, you have your part to play in the explanation, so pay attention."

Nue can be seen kicking her feet behind her playfully as she lies on her stomach atop her UFO, and she says with a smile "Sure thing Mamizou." Mamizou then explained to Miko "Once I found out that Kokoro was going after Seija, I figured that perhaps now would've been the moment where Kokoro would've used her anger to fight an opponent again…But considering how weak Seija was, I knew Kokoro would've actually killed her had they fought under those conditions, and I did not need Kokoro feeling guilt over that."

"So the plan was to knock Seija unconscious and use Nue's power to disguise Seija's identity as myself, and I would disguise myself as Seija." "AND I made sure to hide their emotional spectrums so Kokoro wouldn't figure anything out." Nue remarks quickly, and then Mamizou continues on by mentioning "Afterwards we'd direct Kokoro's attention to us by sending leaves into the sky to simulate action, and Kokoro would find 'my' body on the ground and try to fight Seija with all of her strength. With Nue's help to fire and disguise danmaku to make it look like Seija's own along with a perfect performance from me, Kokoro would be none the wiser…"

"Then, once I was defeated, Nue would quickly use her powers to make Byakuren's precious treasure become visible after hiding it earlier, and then hide Seija's body away while I endured enough to see Kokoro calm down and take the item back, thus undoing all of her prior mistakes in Byakuren's eyes and allowing a cheerful reunion to take hold…" Once Mamizou's explanation was at an end, Miko remarked "Yes, after Kokoro slapped Hijiri across the face to help calm her down, it seemed as though things went peacefully between the two of them…The Celestial was also helping out in finding the treasure, so kudos to her, I must say."

"Hoho, then everything seems to have gone well there. But Crown Prince, there is something that went entirely against my plan from the very beginning of Kokoro's arrival…You saw that, right?" Mamizou thus goes for another puff from her pipe, and Miko remarks "Yes…Kokoro did not react with anger towards Seija. Instead she wished to do the impossible and become friends with her. I must admit, I don't know whether I should be concerned about that or not…"

Raising her eyes up a bit from her smoke, Mamizou says "My plan was to have Kokoro gain some control over her emotions, but I didn't expect it to work out this well that she was even able to control herself against someone as hated as Seija. I had to really put on a good act to try and convince her to stop, but Kokoro did not give up on her goal, and I doubt she will even later…" "Speaking of the amanojaku, I hope you weren't planning on finishing her off now that she served her purpose?" Miko inquires with a glare in the direction of the unconscious Seija.

Mamizou laughed at this suggestion before admitting "I think Seija won't be causing as much trouble now that she was defeated so easily outside of a danmaku duel. That upstart child has been taught a lesson she'll never forget, and just to be safe I will leave those mysterious items of hers in your care." Mamizou enjoyed a smirk at Seija's expense, but then had to direct her attention back at Miko as she found herself being asked "Just WHERE did those items even come from?"

"I got to check some of them closely, but all I could find was a worn out engraving that said 'Dy-t-s'…I'll try and find out more about that later, but for now it's no concern of mine." Mamizou says before putting her pipe away and folding her arms into her sleeves. Miko says "Well, I guess now that we have dealt with this issue, I suppose it would be the best time to tell you that Hijiri and I shall be hosting a celebratory dinner at the Myouren temple tomorrow night. If you wish to come, Mamizou, then you are more than welcome to."

Mamizou gave Miko a wide smile and said "I will be sure to show up. You youngins need to learn a thing or two about the old time recipes of the outside world, after all." "What Mamizou meant to say is that you better brace your taste buds, because you're going to taste some pretty disgusting food." Nue says in a harmlessly teasing tone, and Mamizou glances back and remarks nonchalantly "Now Nue, you know your taste in food is quite different than the rest of us. Remember that recipe you dubbed Mysterious Food X?"

"…You promised not to mention that story to anyone." Nue says in a horrified tone, and Mamizou remarks "And I still won't" before she turns back to the Crown Prince and bows her head, remarking in an appreciative tone "Thank you for keeping things a secret today, and I will see you again tomorrow, Crown Prince." With her meeting here done, Mamizou turned and began to walk out of the forest, with Nue waving goodbye while remarking "It was definitely a lot of fun messing around with you once more, Mamizou! We should do this again sometime!"

Nue then looked at Miko and said "Well your highness, I better go grab everyone else and get them back to the temple…Knowing Kyouko, she and Murasa probably went and fooled around for a bit at that one food stand." "I wish you luck, Nue." Miko says in a polite manner and after sitting upright on her UFO Nue flies off to take of this remaining task for the day. Miko herself took one last glance at Seija before leaving her still lying on the ground and heading off to find an entrance back to Senkai. Everything was going smoothly for tomorrow, and a celebratory dinner was just on the horizon with nothing bad on the menu…

…But then you find yourself being forced to remember that the Scarlet Devil Mansion folk are a part of this story, and there is definitely something Kokoro forgot to take care of today due to Seija's shenanigans, so let's go see just how well everyone is handling things there for a moment, shall we?

With a quick jump to the inside of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, we find Remilia spitting out half a cup of blood wine on the red carpet in front of her as she sits atop her throne. Even though the colors matched, Sakuya felt the need to immediately grab some cleaning supplies and get to work scrubbing the mess up. The reason for Remilia's reaction would become clear as she licked the wine that was on her chin and said in a disbelieving tone towards Patchouli, who was currently standing beside her throne "…You're going to have to repeat that to me, Patchouli."

With a book held under her right arm, Patchouli gave Remilia a firm glare and told her "Hata no Kokoro did not show up today to meet with Lady Flandre. She is handling things well in the basement at the moment, but her view on the situation does not matter in the slightest at the moment." Remilia glanced at Patchouli and said in a semi-offended manner "That is my sister you are talking about there, Patchouli…But still, the fact that the menreiki did not show up today is quite unacceptable, especially after I allowed her to have the Celestial in my own mansion!"

Sakuya glances up and says in a refined but subtly bothered tone "The Celestial was here? This is the first I'm hearing of this…" "I made certain that she exited the premises quickly, I can assure you that much, Sakuya." Patchouli says, and then the sound of glass shattering can be heard coming from Remilia, with the glass cup she held being nothing but shards that falls to the ground in front of the throne moments later. Sakuya shrugs and goes to clean those up without saying a word while Remilia said with an irritated look on her face "To think that the menreiki would try and defy me after signing that contract. She is either really foolish or really brave to incur my wrath!"

"I'd push more towards the former, Remilia." Patchouli says coldly, but then raises her eyebrows a bit and says "So are we going to deal with her like I originally wanted?" Remilia shook her head and smirked, her haughtiness increasing tenfold as she gripped the arms of her throne and leaned forward before saying "Far from it, Patchouli…It would be such a waste to get rid of her, especially when she has been helping Flandre so much. No, I personally intend to find the menreiki at her homestead and drag her back here forever!"

"You do realize that attacking her at her homestead means launching an assault on that Buddhist temple or the Taoist Mausoleum, right? You would need the help of everyone in the mansion besides Lady Flandre in order to successfully get the menreiki here…" Patchouli explains, and after pulling herself off of her throne Remilia flaps her wings to suspend herself in mid-air while glancing back at her friend and saying with a fanged grin "Oh I understand that quite well. Locking heads with that hypocrite priest and make-believe prince is all too inevitable…"

Remilia then swung her arms out and embraced the glow coming through the stained-glass windows behind her, proclaiming with immense bluster "But I am Remilia Scarlet, the Lord of the Night! I do not give-way to any in this world of fantasy…If I want something, I will take it no matter who I must crush in the process!" Remilia then straightened herself and landed on the ground, saying to those standing close to her "Sakuya, prepare the Fairy Maids. Patchouli, make sure Mei Ling and yourself are at the top of your games…Tomorrow night, we shall march out to reclaim our newest servant, no matter how much she and her allies wish to struggle, for that is the fortune that fate has dictated in my favor!"

_Next Time: …Umm, Ignore those last few paragraphs for now, it's dinner time! _


End file.
